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COLIECTION 

OF 

NORTH     CAROLINIANA 


« 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2010  witii  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


I 


http://www.archive.org/details/reminscencesofcaOOharp 


REMINISCENCES 

OF 

Caldwell  County,  N.  C. 


IN  THE 


Great  War   of    1861-65 


Compiled  and  Published 
BY 

G.  W.  F.  HARPER 

Whose  war  experience  was  not  altogether  unlike  that  of 

our  beloved   and   lamented  Bill  Arp,   "  Who   saw 

it  with   his   eyes,   heard   it  with   his  ears, 

and  a  piece  of  it  fell  on  his  big  toe." 

Lenoir,  N.  C. 
1913 


CONTENTS 


Aililrc^^ — I'lUriliiiL;   tlir    M  >  inuinciit    tn   tlu'    L'oii  I'u  Kraii.'    SnMjcr^ 

fi-diii    L'.ililw  rll    Ciiunt\ — lly    lli'ii.    Waller    (."larkc 4 

l''artlusi    ii.   iIk-    l'"riini    at    l'liickaniai;,u;a — !■'.    I)    (  )liU S3 

.\i'i-lli    (."ari'lina    ai    I'liiokaniaiiya — <■.    W,     I'',     llariirr ^7 

A    \\"ar:inu'     h'urlnuuli  —  (i.     W.     !■'.     llarprr 41 

I'ap'rn-     nf      l-'url      llaniliy — S.      I-'.      Ilarinr _ 45 

Kirk\    l\aiil    ami    Skirmish    al     .Mcii])X''s    Cn  iSM'oads  — (1.    W.    1''. 

1  lar|ier     _ ._ 51 

Slurman    a'    Cn'iimkia.    S.    CV — (V    W  .    \'     llar|i(.T 55 


■1 

mm^^'^^Mk  l^^^B 

wlf^-< 

ItfUi 

With  Coniplinieuts  of 

€f.  W.  Jt\  UARVEm 


CALDWELL  COUNTY,  N.  C. 

In  the  Great  War  of   1861-5 

ADDRESS 

by  Hon,   Walter  Clark,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina 
late  Lieut.  Colonel   70th  North  Carolina  Regiment 

On  the  occasion  of  the  Unveiling 
OF  THE 

Monument  to  the  Confederate  Soldiers 

FROM 

CALDWELL  COUNTY 

AT 

LENOIR,  JUNE  3rd,  1910 


"In  all  time  whenever  there  is  speech  of  great  deeds,  they 
shall  be  held  in  remembrance." 


1910 

CLAY  PRINTING  CO. 

HICKORY,  N.  C. 


^-^V' 
^^-^^^v 


TWENTV-SECOXli   RK(  ilMEXT. 

1.     Johnston  ,T.  Pettitrrew,  Colonel.  3.     ( iraluun  Daves.  1st  Eieiit   and 

9.     Thos.  D.  Jones.  Captain.  Co,  A.  4      W    \V.  r)U'k.son.  '.>(1  Lieut     Co 

5.     Walter  Clark,  id  IJeut.  and  r)iill  Master. 


Adjt. 


Speech  at  Lenoir  July  3rd,  1910 


Ladies  of  the  Monument  Association,  Fellow 
Soldiers.  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

As  the  lig-htning  flashes  from  one  part  of  the 
heavens  to  another,  so  passes  the  Hfe  of  man.  Fifty 
years,  save  one,  have  passed  since  the  brave,  ardent, 
patriotic  young  men  of  Caldwell  County, —to  some  of 
you  it  seems  but  yesterday— passed  down  these  streets, 
with  their  flag  floating  in  the  breeze  and  with  sound  of 
fife  and  drum.  North  Carolina  had  called  on  her  sons  to 
defend  her,  and  quick  in  response  came  to  the  reply 
from    Caldwell — "We  are  ready.     Take  us. " 

That  first  company  like  all  those  from  this  county 
was  a  splendid  body  of  men.  They  always  knew  how 
to  do  their  duty.  Like  the  600  Marseillaise  "they  were 
men  who  knew  how  to  die  for  their  country."  They 
became  a  part  of  the  army  of  Northern  Virginia  and 
their  fame  as  part  of  the  "incomparable  infantry"  of 
that  army  is  now  in  the  keeping  of  the  ages.  On  reaching 
Raleigh,  the  company  became  Company  A.  of  Petti- 
grew's  22nd  N.  C.  regiment.  It  was  my  good  fortune 
to  be  assigned  to  that  regiment  about  the  same  time, 
and  I  got  to  know  them  well,  officers  and  men.  There 
was  no  better  company  in  the  army. 

Quickly  Caldwell  County  sent  in  succession,  com- 
pany after  company  of  the  same  material,  till  the  coun- 
ty had  filled  the  full  measure  of  its  devotion  to  the 
State  and  to  the  South.  You  sent  more  soldiers  to  the 
field  than  you  had  voters  and  there  was  left  at  home 
only  the  old  men,  the  women  and  the  children.  And 
the  women — God  bless  them— were  then,  as  now,  no 
less  patriotic  than  the  men.  Their  trials  and  privations 
were  not  surpassed,  if  indeed  they   were   equalled,    by 


M 


twenty-sel'Ond  regiment. 

1.     J.  B.  Clarke,  1st  Lieut..  Co.  A.  3.     S.  F.  Harper.  Private,  Co.  A. 

•i.     Sion  H.  Oxford,  Ensign.  4.     William  T.  Aberuatby,  Private, Co.  A. 

5.    Aurelius  J.  Dula,  Private,  Co.  A. 


those  borne  by  the  soldiers  at  the  front 

It  lacks,  as  I  have  said,  less  than  a  year  of  half  a 
century  since  North  Carolina,  resuming  her  sovereign- 
ty, took  her  stand  with  her  sister  Southern  States,  be- 
neath a  new  flag.  Four  decades  and  a  half  have  passed 
since,  wreathed  around  with  laurel  and  with  cypress 
that  banner  passed  into  the  eternal  silence,  where  live 
forever  the  deadless  dead. 

North  Carolina  sent  to  the  front  more  than  125.000 
stalwart  sons  to  make  her  declaration  good.  More  than 
one-third,  43.000,  came  not  home  again.  Dead  by  the 
fire  of  battle,  dead  by  wounds,  dead  by  disease,  from 
exposure  and  hardship,  43.000  of  our  best  and  bravest 
are  sleeping  their  last  sleep  at  Gettysburg,  at  Vicks- 
burg,  at  Chicamauga,  at  Charleston,  in  the  swamps  of 
the  Chickahominy,  around  Petersburg,  in  the  Valley  of 
Virginia,  and  wherever  in  that  ring  of  fire,  that  encir- 
cled the  Confederacy,  we  faced  the  fearful  odds  that 
slowly  but  steadily  drove  us  inward.  In  the  four  de- 
cades and  a  half  which  have  passed  since,  the  leaden 
hail  of  the  years  has  driven  great  gaps  in  the  ranks  of 
the  survivors.  Another  third,  aye  perhaps,  half  of  the 
remaining  third  have  joined  their  comrades  in  the  great 
bivouac  of  the  beyond.  Of  that  dauntless  host  of  North 
Carolinians,  125,000  strong,  who  may  well  be  said  to 
have  carried  on  their  bayonet  points  the  fortunes  of  the 
Confederacy,  as  well  as  the  fame  and  the  honor  of  North 
Carolina,  less  than  20,000  are  still  with  us. 

I  am  glad  to  be  with  you  Veterans  of  North  Caro- 
lina, and  once  more  to  look  into  the  faces  of  some  of 
the  survivors  of  that  splendid  soldiery  whose  fame  is 
now  co-extensive  with  the  world  itself.  Half  fed  and 
poorly  clothed,  your  array  of  "tattered  uniforms  and 
bright  muskets"  taught  the  foe  that  courage  and  fideli- 
ty to  duty  were  inborn  in  the  Southern  race.  You  of- 
ten marched  with  bare  feet  and  fought  on  half  rations, 
but  you  marched  to  eternal  fame  and  proved  yourselves 


in  battle  worthy  comrades  of  the  Tenth  Legion  of 
Caesar  and  of  the  Old  Giiai'd  of  Napoleon.  The  annals 
of  war,  soldiers  do  not  show  your  superioi's. 

In  the  long  centuries  that  are  to  come,  legend  and 
song  in  this  fair  Southland  will  keep  bright  the  stoi-y 
of  the  Confederate  soldier.  His  memory  will  sparkle 
in  the  fountain,  the  mountain  peaks  will  recall  i-emeni- 
brance  of  his  marches. 

"The  meanest  rill,  tlu^  mig'htiest  river, 
"Rolls  miiitrlin.u'  with  his  fame   forever. " 

Posterity  will  recall  too  the  simple  faith  and  cour- 
age with  which  when  the  end  came,  you  turned  your 
faces  homeward,  and  thei'e  picking  up  the  web  of  life, 
where  the  sword  had  cut  it.  you  l)egan  again  where 
you  had  left  off  four  years  before.  Your  powerful  aid 
dissi])ated  the  evil  influences  that  had  come  over  your 
native  land.  You  raised  u])  the  broken  and  discarded 
statues  of  Law  and  Order  and  replaced  them  with  hon- 
or upon  their  pedestals.  You  cleared  your  fields  of  the 
bi"ambles  that  had  grown  up  and  your  government  of 
the  bad  men  who  had  climbed  to  jiower.  At  your  bid- 
ding, prosperity  again  started  the  hum  of  its  wheels, 
and  honor  and  integrity  became  again  the  attendants  of 
your  public  service. 

You  did  all  this  and  more  that  will  stand  to  your 
everlasting  honor.  In  the  strenuous  struggle  of  l£61-5 
you  were  faithful  to  the  highest  ideals  of  the  soldier 
and  in  the  years  following  you  were  equal  to  the  high- 
est duties  of  the  citizen. 

Patriotism  is  not  with  you  an  acquirement  to  be  laid 
aside  at  will.     It  is  a  part  of  your  very  existence. 

The  stress  of  years  and  the  storm  of  battles  have 
reduced  your  numbers  and  enfeebled  your  steps.  The 
heads  of  the  survivors  have  whitened  with  the  snows 
that  never  melt,  but  your  patriotism  has  not  diminished 
with  vour  numbers  or  your  strength,  and  the  State  has 


no  sons  more  jealous  of  her  honor  or  more   obedient    to 
her  laws  than  you. 

Of  the  Confederate  soldiers,  no  less  can  be  said 
than  Pericles  the  great  Athenian,  more  than  two  thous- 
and years  ago,  said  of  his  own  countrymen,  w^ho  had 
fallen  in  a  great  war  "Whenever, "  in  all  time,  there 
shall  be  speech  of  great  deeds,  there  shall  be  thought 
and  memory  of  them." 

On  this  occasion,  it  will  be  appropriate  for  us  to  re- 
call, even  if  briefly,  the  story  of  the  companies  from 
Caldwell,  to  whose  memory  this  monument  is  erected, 
where  they  served  and  fought,  how  they  bore  them- 
selves, and  what  they  did  that  it  may  be  seen,  with 
what  just  pride  the  ladies  of  Caldwell  County  have 
placed  it  here 

"IN  PERPETUAL  MEMORY  OF  HER  CONFEDERATE 
SOLDIERS" 

You  sent  to  the  front  7  full  companies  of  more  than 
150  men  each,  besides  many  individuals  to  other  com- 
panies—probably 1100  soldiers  being  more  soldiers  in- 
deed, as  I  have  said,  than  the  county  cast  votes  in  1861. 

The  first  company,  as  I  have  said,  was  company  A, 
22nd  N.  C.  regiment.  This  company  was  originally 
called  the  Caldwell  "Rough  and  Ready  Boys."  The 
first  captain  of  this  company  was  W.  F.  Jones,  who  was 
succeeded  by  Capt.  Thomas  D.  Jones,  who  was  killed 
at  Seven  Pines.  The  entire  rank  and  file  in  this  com- 
pany, serving  at  one  time  or  another  during  the  whole 
term  of  service,  was  187  men.  Its  officers  during  its 
service  were  Captains  W.  F.  Jones,  Thomas  D.  Jones, 
James  M.  Isbell,  William  B.  Clark,  Lieutenants,  Jos- 
eph B.  Clarke,  James  W.  Sudderth,  Felix  G.  Dula,  Wil- 
liam W.  Dickson,  Marcus  Deal,  J.  W.  Justice  and  Wil- 
liam A.  Tuttle. 

Soon  after  the  22nd  N.  C.  regiment  was  formed  it 
w^as  ordered  to  Richmond,  thence  to  Evansport  on  the 
Potomac  river  where  it  supported  the  batteries  which 
for  a  while  blocked  all  traffic  to  Washington  by  water. 


In  March  1862,  Col.  Pettigrew  was  made  Brigadier 
General  but  at  that  time  declined  promotion-  a  very 
rare  instance.  The  regiment  was  in  the  fight  at  Seven 
Pines,  May  31.  1862,  and  heavily  engaged.  Company 
A.  lost  many  men  and  Capt.  Thomas  D.  Jones  was 
among  the  killed.  Soon  after  the  regiment  was  i)laced 
in  a  brigade  consisting  of  the  16th,  22nd,  34th,  and  38th 
N.  C.  regiments  under  the  command  of  Brigadier  Gen- 
eral William  D.  Pender  uhich  brigade  was  assigned  to 
the  celebrated  Light  Division  of  A.  P.  Hill. 

An  officer  describing  the  bearing  of  the  22nd  N.  C. 
regiment  at  Seven  Pines  says:  "In  all  my  reading  of 
veterans,  and  of  coolness  under  fire,  I  have  never  con- 
ceived of  anything  sui-passing  our  men  in  this  fight'" 

In  the  "Seven  Days  Fights"  around  Richmond, 
which  soon  followed,  the  regiment  was  again  engaged: 
on  26th  June  near  Mechanicsville  at  Ellison's  Mills,  and 
at  Gaines'  Mill  27th  June,  where  it  won  the  highest 
encomiums  from  Gen.  A.  P.  Hill  in  his  report  and  where 
the  22nd  N.  C.  at  one  time  carried  the  crest  of  the  hill 
and  penetrated  the  enemy's  camp.  It  was  again  en- 
gaged at  Frazier's  Farm  on  28th  June.  In  this  series 
of  battles,  the  South  was  the  attacking  party  thi-ough- 
out.  It  was  not  made  public  at  the  time,  but  the  offi- 
cial records  now  show  that  tho  we  doubled  up  McClel- 
lan's  ai-my  and  drove  him  back  to  the  shelter  of  his 
gunboats,  the  South  had  50  per  cent  more  men  killed 
and  wounded  than  the  enemy.  And  the  loss  to  the 
22nd  N.  C.  (including  Co.  A.  from  Caldwell)  was  par- 
ticularly heavy.  Notwithstanding,  with  unabated  cour- 
age and  peculiar  audacity.  Gen.  Lee's  army  soon  start- 
ed on  a  dash  into  Maryland.  On  Aug.  9th,  the  22nd 
N.  C.  under  Jackson  fought  at  Cedar  Mountain.  It 
was  again  with  Jackson  when  he  struck  Pope's  arm\^ 
on  28th  and  29th  August,  and  distinguished  itself  at 
Second  Manassas  on  Aug.  30th,  Two  days  later  it  was 
again  engaged  with  the  enemy  at  Chantilly,  or  Ox  HilL 

10 


which  was  fought  in  a  terrible  thunder  storm,  and  in 
which  the  artillery  of  heaven  and  earth  seemed  to  rival 
each  other.  Such  were  the  hard  service  and  heavy 
losses  of  the  campaign  that  there  were  only  three  field 
officers  out  of  twelve  left  in  the  brigade  and  some  of 
the  companies  were  commanded  by  corporals. 

The  22nd  North  Carolina  regiment  next  took  part 
in  the  capture  14th  Sept.  1862  of  Harper's  Ferry  and  on 
the  17th  it  was  at  the  battle  of  Sharpsburg,  one  of  the 
bloodiest  battles  of  the  whole  war.  On  these  two  oc- 
casions, I  had  the  honor  to  be  again  on  the  same  field 
wnth  my  old  comrades  of  Company  A.,  tho  at  that  time 
I  was  attached  to  another  command,  being  then  adju- 
tant of  the  35  N.  C,  commanded  by  Col,,  afterwards, 
Senator  M.  W.  Ranson.  At  Sharpsburg  the  22nd  North 
Carolina  regiment  with  the  rest  of  A.  P.  Hill's  Division 
arrived  on  the  battle  field  after  a  forced  march  of  17 
miles  about  4:00  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  just  in  time 
to  arrest  the  advance  of  Burnsides'  corps  who  had  at 
last  carried  "The  Stone  Bridge"  and  was  about  to  cut 
off  Lee's  army  from  the  river.  This  saved  our  army 
from  capture.  On  the  night  of  the  18th,  we  recrossed 
the  Potomac  and  on  the  19th,  the  Federals  having  at- 
tempted to  cross  the  Potomac,  the  22nd  N.  C.  was  with 
A.  P.  Hill's  command  which  returned  and  drove  the 
enemy  back  across  the  Potomac  at  Shepherdstown  with 
great  slaughter.  In  the  latter  part  of  November  the 
22nd  North  Carolina  with  its  division  was  on  duty  near 
Martinsburg,  north  of  Winchester.  It  marched  rapidly 
by  way  of  Snicker's  Gap,  for  Fredericksbury  where  it 
arrived  2nd  December,  a  distance  of  180  miles,  just  in 
time  to  aid  in  heading  off  Burnsides'  army  which  was 
attempting  to  cross  the  Rappahannock.  At  the  battle 
of  Fredericksburg  IStli  December,  the  regiment  was  in 
the  front  line  and  acquitted  itself  in  a  way  worthy  of 
its  reputation. 

At  Chancellorsville,  in  May,  1863,  the  regiment  was 

11 


in  Jackson's  famous  flank  attack  on  Hooker.  Its  losses 
were,  as  usual,  very  severe.  Its  Colonel  and  Major 
were  both  killed,  and  219  men  and  26  out  of  S3  compary 
officers  were  killed  and  wounded.  Chancellorsville  was 
the  18th  battle  in  which  the  22nd  N.  C.  had  been  en- 
gaged in  two  years  and  one  of  the  most  fatal.  In  July, 
1863,  it  was  at  Gettysburg.  Col.  A.  M.  Scales  (since 
Governor)  had  then  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the 
brigade.  The  22nd  N.  C.  was  in  the  first  day's  brilliant 
success  at  Gettysburg.  It  was  engaged  again  on  the 
second  day  and  on  the  third  day  it  was  under  Petti- 
grew  in  the  famous  charge  on  Cemetery  Ridge.  When 
it  came  out,  the  entii'e  brigade  had  not  a  single  field 
oflRcer  left  for  duty  and  very  few  line  officers.  The 
regiment  was  on  the  Rapidan  in  October  and  Novem- 
ber, 1863,  and  at  Mine  Run  2nd  December.  On  5th 
May,  1864,  it  shared  the  terrible  loss  when  Gi'ant  oi)en- 
ed  his  campaign  at  the  Wilderness  and  faced  him  in  the 
almost  daily  battles  on  his  memorable  march  to  the 
James  I'iver,  in  which  in  60  days  Grant  lost  more  men 
than  Lee  had  in  his  whole  army.  The  regiment  then 
took  its  place  in  the  lines  around  Richmond.  It  was  in 
the  constant  fighting  from  then  on  to  the  beginning  of 
the  retreat  to  Appomattox.  On  25th  August,  1864.  it 
Vv^as  in  the  "North  Carolina  Victory"  at  Reams'  Station 
when  three  N.  C.  brigades  captured  the  enemy's  works. 
The  22nd  N.  C.  regiment  served  throughout  the 
war  in  the  army  of  Northern  Virginia,  and  shared  in 
every  battle  of  any  magnitude  in  which  that  army  was 
engaged  except  the  first  battle  of  Manassas .  At  Seven 
Pines.  Company  A.  carried  into  action  100  men  of 
whom  18  were  killed  or  mortally  wounded  besides  the 
Ca])tain  Thomas  D.  Jones.  At  Shepherdstown  4  were 
killed  out  of  30  engaged.  At  Chancellorsville  8  out  of 
35  were  killed  and  at  Gettysburg  4  were  killed  out  of 
30  besides  the  wounded.  Altogether,  during  the  war 
this  company  had  killed  outright,  44   men   and   oflficers 

12 


■'.VENTY-SIXTH   REGI? 


i.  Zebulon  B.  Vance.  Colonel. 

2.  Harry  K.  Burgwyn.  Colonel. 

3.  John  R.  Lane,  Colonel. 

fi,  Joha  T.  Jones,  Lt.  Col. 


5.  N   P.  Rankin,  Major. 

6.  Thomas  J.  Boykin,  Surgeon. 

7.  J.  J.  Young,  Captain  and  Asst.  Q.  M. 

8.  James  B.  Jordan,  Adjutant. 


and  10  were  discharg'ed  because  of  total  disability 
caused  by  wounds  and  23  died  of  sickness.  Private  A. 
J.  Dula,  of  this  company,  was  standing-  near  Gen. 
Stonewall  Jackson  when  the  latter  was  mortally  wound- 
ed at  Chancellorsville. 

Company  A,  has  the  following  names  on  the  roll  of 
Honor  at  Appomattox,  being  all  that  were  left  by  the 
attrition  of  war;  Lieutenant  William  A.  Tuttle,  Serge- 
aiU,  M.  M.  Deal,  2nd  Sergeant,  P.  Barlow;  3rd  Ser- 
geant, P.  G.  McCrary;  4th  Sergeant,  J.  N.  Stallings; 
5th  Sergeant.  J.  D.  Sherrill;  Corp.  A.  J. 
Deal;  Privates,  R.  B.  Clark,  W.  F.  Fowler,  W.  0. 
Healan.  S.  F.  Harper,  L.  Holder,  P.  J.  Kel- 
l^v,  S.  J.  Knight,  John  Munday,  John  Payne,  E.  L. 
Moon,  H.  Sherrill,  J.  L.  Sherrill",  H.  H.  Stallings,  Har- 
per Knight. 

The  next  companies  from  this  county  were  the 
"Hibriten  Guards"  which  in  battle  were  as  steadfast 
as  that  old  mountain  itself  and  which  became  the  fa- 
mous Company  F.  of  the  26th  N.  C.  regiment,  and  its 
fellow  and  equal,  the  "Caldwell  Guards"  which  became 
Company  I.  of  the  same  regiment.  The  officers  of 
Company  F.  during  the  war  were  in  succession  Captains 
N.  P.  Rankin  (who  was  promoted  to  Major)  Jos.  R. 
Ballew  and  Romulus  M.  Tuttle.  Lieutenants.  Abner 
B.  Hayes,  John  B.  Holloway,  R.  N.  Hudspeth,  Alfred 
T.  Stewart  and  Charles  M.  Sudderth.  Later  Lieut. 
Stewart  raised  a  Company  for  the  58th  Regiment,  of 
which  he  was  made  Captain;  was  promoted  to  Major  and 
killed  in  battle  Aug.  31,  1864  at  Jonesboro,  Ga.  The 
officers  of  Company  L  were  Captains  Wilson  A.  White 
and  John  T.  Jones,  (who  became  Lieutenant  Colonel  and 
was  killed  in  command  of  the  Regiment  at  the  "Wilder- 
ness") and  N.  G.  Bradford.  Lieutenants,  M.  B.  Blair, 
John  Carson,  Rufus  Deal,  S.  P.  Dula,  J.  C.  Greer  and 
J.  C.  Sudderth. 

No  regiment  in  the  service  achieved   more   reputa- 

14 


J.         ',J." 


TWENTY -SIXTH   REGIMENT. 

1.    James  T.  Adams,  Lieut.-Colonel.  •)     Stephen  W.  Brewer,  Captain.  Co.  E. 

2     Samuel  P.  Wagg,  Captain,  Co.  A.  5.    Jos.  R.  Ballew,  Captain,  Co.  F. 

3.    William  Wilson,  Captain,  Co.  B.  6.    R.  M.  Tuttle,  Captain,  Co.  £. 

7.    H.  C.  Albright,  Captain,  Co.  G. 


tion  than  the  26th  North  CaroHna.  There  were  other 
regiments  whose  services  wei-e  as  great  and  whose 
losses  were  as  severe,  taking  the  war  thro.  But  the 
terriffic  loss  sustained  by  the  26th  N.  C.  at  Gettysburg, 
and  particularly  by  Company  F.  of  this  county,  has 
made  its  fame  historic. 

The  I'egiment  was  organized  with  Zebulon  B.  Vance 
as  Colonel,  whose  name  always  stirs  the  hearts  of  North 
Carolinians  as  with  the  sound  of  a  trumpet.  Its  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  who  succeeded  him  as  Colonel  was  the 
brave  young  soldier  who  fell  at  Gettysburg,  Harry  K. 
Burgywn.  It  was  in  its  first  battle  and  received  its 
baptism  of  fire  at  New  Bern  14th  March,  1862,  under 
Gen.  Branch.  Though  this  battle  was  a  Confederate 
defeat  the  26th  N.  C.  marched  off  the  field  intact,  and 
in  good  order. 

The  regiment  was  in  the  "Seven  Days  Fights" 
around  Richmond  and  suffered  terribly  in  the  battle  at 
Malvern  Hill,  1st  July  1862.  In  August.  1862,  the  reg- 
iment was  transferred  from  Ransom's  brigade  to  which 
it  had  been  temporarily  attached,  to  Pettigrew's  in 
which  it  remained  to  the  end  of  the  war.  In  the  fall 
of  1862,  the  brigade  served  in  Eastern  N,  C,  and  the 
26th  North  Carolina  was  engaged  at  Rawls'  Mills  on 
2nd  November  of  that  year  when  6  companies  of  the 
regiment  held  in  check  5,000  of  the  enemy  under  Gen. 
Foster.  It  was  in  the  attack  on  Washington,  N.  C,  in 
April,  1863. 

In  May,  1863,  the  brigade  was  sent  to  Virginia  and 
thenceforward  its  record  was  conspicuous  in  the  history 
of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia.  The  regiment  w^as 
in  the  march  to  Gettysburg.  Its  record  in  that  battle 
needs  no  repetition  for  it  is  a  part  of  every  history  of  the 
war.  In  the  first  day's  fight  it  met  the  Iron  Brigade 
and  both  commands  suffered  fearfully.  On  the  third 
day  it  was  in  the  famous  charge  on  Cemetery  Ridge. 
It  carried  800  men  into  action  on  the  first  day   and  only 

16 


TWENTY-SIXTH   REGIMENT. 


1.    John  Tuttle.  Sergeant,  Co.  F. 

t*.     Wni.  N.  Snt^llintr,  3d  Lieut.,  Co.  D. 

3.  I.,   L.  Polk,  Sersfaut  Jlajor 

4.  W.  \V.  Edward.s.  Private,  Co.  E. 

r>.  J.  D.  Moore.  Private.  Co.  F.  (The  8.5th 
man  in  liis  Comiiany  ivounded  at 
Gettysburg.  July  1st,  18(;8.) 


H  C.  Coffey,  Private,  Co.  F.  (The 
S6th  man  in  his  Company  wounded 
at  Gettysburg:,  July  Ist."lKtJ3.) 

Laban  ElMs,  Private,  Co.  E. 


rHIKTV-SKCONl)   RE(;iMFNT 
1.    K.  C.  Br:ihl>lc.  Col..  l.ill.M  at  S|.ol  t-.vlva.iia  C.   H.    Ma.v  l:ith.  IsiU 
Will.    11.   Hatlle.  Siiri^edii  1.      .Aueii-lus  Littlf.  ( 'oi  poial.  »'o.  K. 

\V.   1,.  l.onildii.  I'apt.,  C.i.  I  o.      H.  .A.  l.c.u.Um.  C.uiri.T.  Co.  1. 


TWENTY  SIXTH   KEGDIEXT. 

1.  J.  D.  Mclver,  Captain,  Co.  M.  4.    W.  W.  Gaither,  Assistant  Surgeon. 

2.  Tiiomas  Lilly,  Captain,  Co.  K.  5.     George  Wilcox.  1st  Lieut.,  Co.  M. 

8.    Jas   C,  McLauchlin,  Captain,  Co.  K.         6.     Orran  A.  Hanner,  1st  Lieut.,  Co.  E, 
7.    J.  G.  Jones,  1st  Lieut.,  Co.  D. 


216  came  out  unhurt,  and  its  Colonel  was  killed.  At 
the  end  of  the  third  day's  fight,  it  had  only  80  men  and 
officers  fit  for  duty,  and  its  Major,  John  T.  Jones,  of 
this  county,  tho  wounded,  was  in  command  of  the  bri- 
gade. Company  F.  of  this  county,  commanded  by  Cai> 
tain  R.  M.  Tuttle  went  into  battle  with  3  (officers  and 
88  muskets.  Of  these,  not  one  came  out  untouched.  31 
were  killed  or  died  of  wounds.  Of  the  other  60.  all  of 
whom  were  wounded.  Sei'geant  Robert  Hudspeth  was 
the  only  one  able  to  report  for  duty  after  the  fight  and 
he  had  been  knocked  down  and  stunned  by  the  explo- 
sion of  a  shell.  In  this  com])any  were  three  sets  of 
twin  brothers.  At  the  close  of  the  battle  5  of  the  6  lay 
dead  on  the  field.  Colonel  Fox  of  the  U.  S.  army 
states  in  his  book  on  "Regimental  Losses  in  the  Civil 
War"  that  the  loss  of  the  26th  N.  C.  regiment  at  Gettys- 
burg was  the  greatest  in  per  cent  and  the  greatest  in 
number  sustained  in  any  one  battle,  of  any  of  the  2.500 
regiments  which  both  sides  sent  into  that  great  struggle. 
The  26th  N.  C.  regiment  again  sustained  heavy  loss 
at  Bristoe  Station  14th  Oct.,  1863.  On  5th  May,  1864,  it 
aided  to  repulse  Grant  in  his  opening  battle  at  the 
Wilderness,  and  faced  him  day  after  day  in  the  suc- 
cessive battles  down  to  the  crossing  of  the  James  river. 
It  then  took  its  position  in  the  lines  around  Petersburg. 
Its  brigade  was  one  of  the  three  N.  C.  brigades  which 
made  Reams'  Station  a  '*N.  C.  victory"  in  Aug.  1864. 
At  the  Wilderness  it  lost  its  brave  young  Lieut.  Colonel 
John  T.  Jones,  of  Caldwell.  It  was  at  Burgess'  Mills 
in  Oct.  1864,  at  Hatcher's  Run  in  February  following, 
and  in  the  retreat  to  Appomattox  which  has  been  well 
called  "the  Funeral  March  of  the  Confederacy."  At 
the  Surrender,  the  Parole  List  show  present:  In  Co. 
F. :  Sergeant  J.  C.  T.  Hood  and  Privates,  J.  Branch,  C. 
M.  Tuttle,  G.  H.  Harston,  and  C.  H.  Sudderth.  No 
officers.  From  Company  I  there  was  left  to  be  paroled 
1st  Lieut.  M.  B.  Blair,  2nd  Lieut.  J.  A.  Bush;  Sergeant, 

18 


FIFTY-EIGHTH    KEGIMENT. 


1.  John  B.  P.-ilmeT,  Colonel. 

2.  Benjamin  F.  Baird.  Captain,  Co.  D. 

3.  G.  W.  F.  Harper,  Ma.ior. 


4.    Isaac  H.  Bale"-.  Captain,  Co.  B. 
.5.     F.  A.  Tobey.  Ojptain.  Co.  A. 
6.    Drurj'  D,  Colfuy,  Sergeant-Ma.ior. 


James  Barnes:  Privates,  H.  Holder,  J.  C.  Hart,  S. 
Keller,  P.  W.  Summerow,  B.  W.  Manley,  J.  I.  Brad- 
shaw,  H.  W.  Smith.  J.  A.  league  and  W.  H.  McPherson. 

The  next  companies  to  go  from  this  county  were 
Company  E.  and  Company  H.  of  the  58  N.  C.  regiment. 
The  officers  of  Company  E.  were  Captains  A.  T.  Stewart 
(pi'omoted  to  Major  and  killed  at  Jonesboro,  Ga.  31st 
August,  1864,)  and  Thomas  J.  Cotfey;  Lieutenants,  J. 
B.  Marler  and  W.  E.  Cotfey.  The  officers  of  Company 
H.  were  Capts.  T.  J.  Dula  (promoted  to  Lieutenant 
Colonel),  G.  W.  F.  Harper  (wounded  at  Resaca,  Ga., 
in  May,  1864,  and  promoted  to  Major  November,  1864,) 
and  L.  W.  Gilbert.  Lieutenants.  W.  W.  Lenoir,  E.  M. 
Hedrick,  A.  D.  Lingle,  L.  A.  Page  (killed  at  Dalton. 
Ga.,  Feb.  1864.) 

In  September,  1862,  this  i-egiment  was  in  the  in- 
vesting force  at  Cumberland  Gap.  In  the  summer  of 
1863  it  was  in  East  Tennessee  and  joining  Bragg's 
army  took  part  in  the  great  three  days  battle  at  Chick- 
amauga  18th,  19th  and  20th  of  September,  1863.  In 
that  battle,  this  regiment  lost  over  half  its  men  and 
was  conspicuous  in  the  final  charge  against  the  enemy 
on  Snodgrass  Hill,  the  Gibraltar  of  the  battle.  The 
steel  tablet  erected  there  on  the  crest  of  that  hill  by 
the  U.  S.  Government  records  the  58th  N.  C.  regiment 
as  having  reached  the  farthest  point  in  that  attack. 
The  official  reports  show  that  the  loss  of  this  regiment 
equalled  the  combined  loss  of  the  other  three  regiments 
of  the  brigade,  which  were  from  other  States.  These 
two  Caldwell  county  companies  were  with  their  regi- 
ment at  Mission  Ridge  and  in  the  long  campaign  and 
numerous  battles  under  Jos.  E.  Johnston  as  he  retreated 
from  Dalton  down  to  Atlanta.  After  the  fall  of 
Atlanta  it  was  in  Hood's  army  in  the  advance  into 
Tennessee.  Late  in  December  it  was  at  Corinth,  Miss. 
When  Hood  fell  back  to  Tupelo,  Miss.,  it  was  sent  to 
South  Carolina  where  it  again  faced  Sherman.     It  was 

20 


FIFTY-EIGHTH  REGIMENT. 


*.    Edmund Kirby,  Lieut. -Colonel. (Killed  4. 
at  CliickaniauKa  )  5 

1.  R.  M.  Silver,  Lieut.  Cr>loDel. 

2.  L.  \V.  Gilbert,  Captain,  Co.  H.  6. 

3.  E   H.  Crump.  Serjeant.  Co.  H. 
<SevereJy  wounded  at  Chiekamauga.) 


E.  L.  Moore,  Sergeant,  Co.  E. 

J.  L.  Craig.  Private,  Co.  H.    (Captured 

1864,  and  died  in  prison.) 
A.  C.  Craig,  Sergeaut,  Co.  H, 


then  transferred  to  Smithfield,  N.  C.  and  was  again 
in  battle  at  Bentonsville  on  the  18th.  19th  and  20th  of 
Maich.  1865,  where  I  hid  the  fcrtinetosee  the  regi- 
ment 8"o  into  battle  in  one  of  the  most  magnificent 
charges  of  the  war  and  in  which  the  Confederates 
caiJtured  the  enemy's  batteries  and  breastworks. 
That  gallant  soldier.  Major  G.  W.  F.  Har|)er.  of  this 
county,  commanded  the  58th  N.  C.  and  60th  N.  C. 
regiments  in  that  charge.  It  was  worthy  of  the 
best  days  of  the  Confedei'acy.  I  was  with  them  in  the 
long  retreat  and  at  the  surrender  near  Greensboro  and 
was  i)aroled  at  the  same  time  with  them.  2nd  May. 
1865,  three  weeks  after  the  surrender  at  Appomattox. 
The  58th  N.  C.  regiment  was  brigaded  with  troops 
from  other  States  and  most  of  the  time  was  either  in 
Reynolds'  or  Palmer's  brigade. 

The  next  company  from  the  county  was  in  the 
Junior  Reserves,  the  boys  from,  seventeen  to  eighteen 
years  of  age,  who  were  raised  in  April  and  May  of 
1865.  This  company  was  raised  in  Burke  and  Caldwell 
Counties.  Its  Captain  was  L.  A.  Bristol  since  the 
efficient  Clerk  of  Burke  Su])erior  Court.  It  became 
Company  G.  72  N.  C.  regiment  (3  Junior  Reserves. ) 
The  other  officers  were  Marcus  G.  Tuttle  1st  Lieutenant, 
and  George  T.  Dula,  Horace  W.  Connally  and  John  W. 
Comially  and  John  W.  Harper  2nd  Lieutenants.  The  lat- 
ter laid  down  his  young  life  on  his  country's  altar.  He  was 
killed  at  the  battle  of  South  West  Creek  March  8th,  1865. 
This  company  was  at  first  in  the  Eighth  Battalion  com- 
manded by  Maj.  James  B.  Ellington.  It  was  sent  with 
the  other  N.  C.  Junior  Reserves  to  Belfield.  Va..  where 
on  8th  December,  1864.  they  aided  to  repulse  Warren's 
Corps.  The  weather  was  severe  and  the  poorly  clad 
young  soldiers  suffered  terribly.  They  were  hurried 
back  to  Wilmington  and  under  Gen.  W.  W.  K^rkland 
the  Caldwell  boys  aided  to  repulse  the  first  attack  by 
Butler  and  the  Navy  on  Fort  Fisher  on  Christmas  day, 

22 


SEVKNTY-SECONr>  REGIMENT. 

John  W.  Hinsdale,  Colonel.  5.     H.  W.  Connelly,  2d  Lieut     Co.  C. 

W   Foster  French,  Lieut  -Colonel.  b.    J   M,  B.uuly^d  Lieut  ,  Co.  K. 

w:  W.  KinK,  1st  Lieut.,  Co   A.  7      1>.  S  Re.d  2d  Lieut     Co   K 

Jno  W.  Harper,  2d  Lieut  .  lo.  C.  8.     C.  W.  Taylor.  Orderly  .Sergt.,  Co.  C. 

a,    J.  L.  JlcGinipsej-,  I'rivate,  Co.  h. 


1861.  Lieutenant  M.  G.  Tuttl'.^  of  the  Caldwell  Com- 
pany and  some  of  his  men  were  taken  prisoners.  When 
the  72nd  N.  C.  regiment  was  organized  the  Burke  and 
Caldwell  l)oys  became  Company  G.  and  the  new  legi- 
ment  was  assigned  to  the  Brigade  (Nethercutt's)  to 
which  my  own  regiment  belonged  and  I  saw  them 
under  fire  at  South  West  Creek,  near  Kinston.  N.  C. 
and  again  in  the  great  8  days  battle  at  Bentonville,  on 
19th.  20th  and  21st  of  March.  1865.  They  showed  the 
steadiness  of  veterans  and  proved  themselves  of  the 
same  blood  as  their  kinsmen  and  neighbors  in  the  22nd 
N.  C,  26th  N.  C.  and  58th  North  Carolina  regiments. 
They  were  in  the  long  Retreat  passing  through  Raleigh 
and  Chai)el  Hill  and  were  paroled  with  the  rest  of 
Johnston's  army,  near  High  Point.  N.  C.  2nd  May.  1865. 

There  was  still  another  company  from  Caldwell. 
Company  B.  of  17th  Battalion  (Avery's).  This  com- 
pany w^as  commanded  by  Capt.  Nelson  A.  Miller.  It 
fought  Stoneman  on  his  raid,  in  their  own  county,  and 
skirmished  with  his  advance  guard  in  the  edge  of  this 
town  and  some  of  the  Company  escaped  capture,  I  am 
told,  only  by  riding  up  to  the  top  of  Hibriten.  Indeed 
members  of  this  Company  aided  to  protect  the  county 
even  after  the  surrender  of  Johnston  and  Lieut,  Henly 
of  the  Company  was  killed  in  the  capture  of  Fort 
Hamby  on  14th  May,  1865. 

Besides  the  above  companies  who  saw  arduous 
service  at  the  front  Caldwell  county  furnished  a  com- 
pany of  Senior  Reserves—men  between  forty-five  and 
fifty  — and  also  a  company  of  Home  Guards.  These  did 
efificient  service  in  keeping  down  Kirk,  and  other  raiders 
from  East  Tennessee,  and  in  giving  safety  and  pro- 
tection to  the  women  and  children  and  the  aged. 

There  were  other  soldiers  from  Caldwell  who 
served  in  companies  not  from  this  county.  Their  numbers 
can  not,  at  this  late  day  be  ascertained,  but  there  were 
several  Caldwell  men  in   the  9th  N.  C.  (1st.  Cav. )  41st 

24 


SIXTY-FIFTH  REGIMENT— SIXTH  CAVALRY. 


1.     Gporpe  N.  I'olk,  Colonel. 

3.    Martin  V.INI  ore,  C.vptain  and  A.Q.M. 

3.  Barton  Rohey  Brown.  Ciiptain,  Co  A. 

4.  V    S.   L.isU.   Captain.  Co.  I.      (For- 

merly  .5th  Batt  )   Prisoner,  John- 
son's Island,  lS63-lb65. 


Wiliiim  B.  Council],  Captain,  Co.  B. 
Stephen  J.  Brown,  'id  Lieut.,  Co.  A. 
Wiley  P  Thomas,  2d  Lieut.,  Co.    A. 


N.  C.  (3rd  Cav.)  and  in  1st  N.  C,  18th  N.  C.  and  34th 
N.  C.  regiments. 

Such  is  the  brief  and  imperfect  story  of  the  soldiery 
of  Caldwell  county.  That  story  needs  no  embellish- 
ment. It  speaks  for  itself.  These  are  the  men  to 
whom  the  patriotism  and  atfection  of  the  ladies  of  this 
county  have  erected  this  monument  ?  Never  were  men 
more  worthv  of  it. 

In  1870  France  and  Germany  went  to  war.  Their 
population  were  about  e(iual~38,000.000  each.  Each 
had  an  army  of  400.000  men  e(}ui])ped  for  war.  The 
army  of  France  was  inspired  by  the  remembrance  of 
the  giories  of  Napoleon.  That  of  Germany,  by  the 
victories  of  Frederick  the  Great.  In  six  months  the 
German  army  had  captured  Paris  and  300,000  French 
troops  and  France  had  surrendered  to  the  enemy  two 
great  Provinces  and  agreed  to  pay  a  war  indemnity  of 
$1,000,000,000. 

In  1861  when  our  war  began  the  South  had  no 
government.  It  had  to  create  one.  It  had  not  a  soldier 
and  not  a  dollar.  It  had  to  raise  an  army,  organize, 
equip  and  feed  it.  It  had  to  make  a  Treasury  and  fill 
it.  It  had  no  arsenals,  no  powder  and  few  guns. 
These  things  had  to  be  made.  The  enemy  had  twenty- 
four  millions  of  people  to  our  six  millions,  many  of  them 
colored.  They  had  an  organized  government.  They 
had  an  army  and  a  navy  ready  to  hand.  They  had  an 
overflowing  treasury  and  ready  access  to  the  outside 
world  from  which  they  drew  recruits  for  their  ranks, 
and  supplies  of  every  kind.  When  they  lost  a  soldier, 
killed  or  w^ounded,  they  could  fill  his  place  with  three 
more.  When  we  lost  a  man,  there  was  no  other  to  take 
his  place.  They  put  3,000,000  of  soldiers  in  the  field. 
We  managed  first  and  last  to  put  into  line  600,000, 

It  took  the  Germans  6  months  to  overcome  the 
French,  a  brave  and  martial  race.  It  took  the  North  4 
years  to  travel  the  117  miles  between   Washington  and 

26 


THIRTY-FIFTH   REGIMENT. 

M   W.  RaTisnm,  Colonel.  5      Wm.  H.  S.  Biirtrwyn.  Captain,  Co.  H. 

John  G   Jones,  Colonel.  6.     Roh^-rt  B.  Peebles,  Adjutant. 

J.  T.  Johnson.  Colonel.  7.     David  G.  Maxwell,  Captain,  Co.  H. 

Simon  B.  Taylor,  Lieut. -Colonel.  8.    P.  J.  Johnson,  Captain,  Co.  K. 

9.    Walter  Clark,  1st  Lieut,  and  Adjutant. 


fiichmond.  And  a,u'aiii  and  a;jain  tlicy  were  on  the 
point  of  failure.  Had  Albert  Sidney  Johnson's  life  lieen 
spared  1  hour  lon.uer  at  Slnloh,  Gran'  and  Sherman  with 
the  army  under  their  command  would  have  been  prison- 
ers. Had  Stonewall  Jackson  i.ot  been  struck  by  a  1  ul- 
let  from  (jne  of  our  own  men  at  Chaix'ellorsville.  Hook- 
er's army  would  have  1  etn  cut  off  licm  United  Stat'_s 
Ford  and  inisoners  of  war.  Either  event  would  have 
ended  the  war  like  a  clap  of  thunder. 

The  valor  of  our  Generals,  and  the  <i'enius  of  our 
Generals  were  ecaial  to  success.  They  did  i.ot  C(  m.m.ar.d 
it.  only  because  an  infinitely    ^"reater   power   than    the 


enemy  could  control  willed  it  otherwise.  As  Napier 
said  of  Napoleon  "Fortune,  that  name  for  the  unknown 
combinations  of  an  infinite  power,  was  wanting-  to  us 
and  without  her  aid  the  designs  of  man  are  as  bubbles 
on  a  troubled  ocean." 

This  and  other  monuments  which  the  fair  hands  of 
the  women  of  the  South  have  caused  to  be  raised  to  the 
memory  of  the  Confedei'ate  Soldiers  are  not  the  on  y 
ones.  The  enemy,  in  a  sad  sincerity  have  erected  a 
far  more  expensive  one.  In  1900,  the  pension  rolls 
showed  more  than  1,000,000  Union  soldiers  then  draw- 


28 


ing  pay  from  the  ofovernment,  for  the  reason  sworn  to 
by  every  one  of  them,  and  the  fact  found  to  be  true  on 
examination, that  you.  Confederate  Soldiers,  had  wound- 
ed and  crippled  him.  or  had  made  him  very  sick,  per- 
mantly  sick,  in  fact.  As  there  were  first  to  last  only 
600,000  of  you,  some  of  whom  were  killed  or  wounded 
themselves,  you  must  have  given  the  enemy,  what  the 
Irish  call  a  "Perfectly  ilegant  Time." 

Since  the  war,  this  country  has  paid  in  pensions 
and  to  "Soldiers  Homes"  for  the  Federal  Soldiers,  alto- 
gether 4,000.000,000  of  dollars.  Of  this,  one  third,  say 
$1,300,000,000,  have  been  paid  by  the  South, $100, 010,000 
of  it  by  North  Carolinians.  As  nearly  all  this  goes 
north,  this  has  aided  vastly  to  keep  us  poor  in  our  pov- 
erty. 

The  soldiers  who  fought  for  the  Northern  States 
have  been  thus  rewarded.  Those  w^ho  fought  for  the 
Southern  States  have  received  only  what  we  in  our  pov- 
erty could  do  for  them.  The  North  has  shown  neither 
generosity,  nor  magnanimity — not  even  moderation  in 
this. 

Yet  when  the  w^ar  again  broke  out,  in  no  section 
was  the  response  to  the  call  for  troops  by  the  Govern- 
ment more  prompt  than  in  the  South.  And  the  county 
of  Caldwell,  the  valor  of  whose  sons  at  Gettysburg,  at 
Chickamauga,  and  on  other  fields  was  historic,  was  one 
of  the  first  to  step  to  the  front  with  a  gallant  company, 
at  whose  head  was  a  brother  of  the  brave  young  soldier, 
w^ho  brought  Pettigrew's  shattered  brigade  with  honor 
off  the  field  at  Gettysburg,  and  who  sealed  his  devotion 
to  his  State  and  the  South  with  his  life's  blood  in  the 
crisis  of  the  battle  at  the  Wilderness. 

My  review  of  the  record  of  the  soldiers  of  Caldwell 
is  necessarily  brief  and  imperfect.  May  I  not  suggest 
that  before  it  is  too  late,  some  son  or  daughter  of  your 
county  should  write  the  history  of  the  soldiers  from 
Caldwell  in  the  Great  War,  where  they  went  and  what 

29 


they  did.  Such  writer  could  take  the  dry  official  re- 
ports and  from  the  lips  of  these  veterans  take  down  the 
living  details  which  will  clothe  the  dry  narrative  with 
life,  color  and  complexion  and  breathe  into  the  whole 
the  breath  of  life.  When  the  work  is  done,  it  will  re- 
flect eternal  honor  on  the  county  and  the  people  that 
could  furnish  such  soldiers  and  on  the  loving-  hand  that 
thus  shall  record  Great  Deeds,  Nobly  Done. 


SO 


A  LITTLE  HISTORY 

Largel}-  compiled  from  the  Lenoir  News 

Of    the    Monument    in    honof    of  the 
Confederate  Veterans 

FROM 

CALDWELL  COUNTY,  N.  C 

UNVEILED  AT 
LENOIR,  JUNE  3,   1910 


INTRODUCTION 

The  preparation  of  the  little  history  of  the  Monu- 
ment and  the  collection  of  all  the  pictures  of  Caldwell 
County  Veterans  published  with  Judge  Clark's  admira- 
ble address  has  been  a  work  demanding  close  personal 
attention  and  much  time  and  correspondence.  It  has, 
however,  been  a  labor  of  love  and  full  of  satisfaction. 

The  sad  feature  of  it  is  the  realization  that  nearly 
all  these  soldiers  are  gone  from  us,  and 

"No  more  on  Life's  Parade  shall  meet. 

"On  Fame's  Eternal  Camping  Ground 
Their  silent  tents  are  spread 
And  Glory  guards  with  solemn  round 
The  Bivouac  of  the  dead." 

G.  W.  F.  Harper. 
Lenoir,  N.  C,  October,  1910. 


MISS  ELLA  DELIGHT  BERNHARDT 
"I  do  this  in  1  onorof  the  men  who  wove  the  tjray.'" 


OFFICIAL  PROGRAMME 

OF  THE 

UNVEILING  EXERCISES 

Friday,  June  3.   1910,  Lenoir,  North  Carolina 

Music  by  the  Band 

I.-IO  o'clock  A.  M.— Procession  forms  on  Mulberry  Street,  facin.L: 
North"  head  of  column  at  Pioneer  Library. 

ORDER  OF  MARCH.— 1— Chief  Marshal  and  Staff  mounted—2— 
Speaker  with  Mayor,  Lieutenant  Governor  and  invited  guests 
in  carriages— 3 -Band— 4  — Veterans,  on  foot,  commanded  by 
their  own  officers,  according  to  rank  — 5  -Citizens  mounted 
lead  by  Marshals  — (i  — Citizens  in  carriages. 

ROUTE  OF  PARADE-Mulberry  Street  to  Ash  Street,  Ash 
Street  to  West  Boundary  Street;  West  Boundary  Street  to 
West  Main  Street;  West  Main  Street  to  Monument. 

Music 
7. -INVOCATION- Rev.  J.  F.   England. 
8. -PRESENTATION-Crosses  of  Honor  to  Veterans. 

Music 

9.-ADDRESS  — Chief  .Justice  Walter  Clark,  Supreme  Court  of 
North  Carolina. 

Ki.-DOXOLOGY. 

ll.-UNVEILING-Miss  Ella  Delight  Bernhardt. 

12.-DIXIE. 

13. -DINNER  To  VETERANS-Court  House  Lawn. 

Music 
14. -AUTOMOBILE  RIDE  to  Veterans. 
Chief  Marshal, 
MR.   DAVID  F.  CLARK 


Caldwell's  Confederate  Monument. 


Erected  on  the  Public  Square  of  Lenoir — The  Handsome 
Shaft  Unveiled  June  3,  1  9  1  0. 

It  is  of  North  Carolina  Granite  and  stands  35  feet 
high.  As  may  be  seen  from  the  picture  it  is  a  model  of 
beauty  and  symmetry  and  reflects  the  good  taste  of  those 
who  chose  the  design. 

A  little  more  than  three  years  ago  the  local  chapter 
of  the  United  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy  took  up 
actively  the  matter  of  raising  funds  for  a  monument  to 
Caldwell  county's  noble  sons  who  fought  and  died  in  the 
great  conflict  between  the  States.  There  were  1,000  or 
more  of  these  devoted  citizens  who  left  her  borders  in 
the  five  companies  she  furnished  to  her  Confederate 
army,  besides  many  more  who  enlisted  in  other  compa- 
nies going  from  adjoining  counties. 

Of  these,  many  noble  sons  never  returned,  but  fell 
in  defense  of  what  they  believed  to  be  the  right  on  tlie 
battle  fields  from  Seven  Pines  to  Appomattox. 

To  do  honor  to  these  men,  the  noble  women  compos- 
ing the  "Zeb  Vance"  Chaptei"  of  the  Daughters  of  the 
Confederacy  voluntarily  took  upon  themselves  the  plea- 
sant task  of  erecting  this  handsome  monument.  By 
personal  solicitation,  by  active  work  in  bazaars,  festivals 
and  other  means,  as  well  as  by  liberal  contributions  of 
money,  they  have  earnestly  devoted  themselves  to  th's 
work  of  love  until  success  has  crowned  their  efforts. 
The  monument  cost  erected  $2,100.  and  it  is  a  shaft 
w^orthy  of  the  grand  men  it  is  reared  to   commenK-rate. 

The  inscriptions  are  as  follows 

On  the  west  front:  — 

"In  honor  of  the  men  who  wore    the    Gray."    and 

38 


the  followini;-  beautiful  lines  from    O'Hara's    immortal 
"Bivouac  of  the  dead. " 

"Nor  shall  your  Glory  be  forgot, 

While  Fame  her  record  keeps. 
Or  Honor  points  the  hallowed  spot, 

Where  Valor  proudly  sleeps." 

Abova  this  on  the  main  shaft  a  furled  Confederate 
battle  flag. 

On  the  east  front  is  placedthe  following  record  of 
the  companies  that  went  from  Caldwell  into  the  Con- 
federate service. 

"From  Caldwell  County. 
Co.  A.  22nd.  N.  C.  Reg't.  Inf't. 
Co.  F.  2oth.  N.  C.  Reg't.  Inf't. 
Co.  I  26th.  N.  C.  Reg't.  Inf't. 
Co.  E.  58th.  N.  C.  Reg't.  Inf't. 
Co.  H.  53th.  N.  C.  Reg't.  Inf't.  and  many    of    her 
sons  in  other  commands." 

A'so  on  the  east  side  the  following: 

"Erected  by  the  Vance  Chapter  of  the  United 
Daughters  of  the  Confederacy  of  Caldwell  county,  N.  C. 
May  1910." 

And  above  this  on  the  main  shaft  a  stand  of   arms. 
High  above  on  the  belt  course  of  the  shaft  in  large 
raised  letters;— 

North  side, 1865 

South  side, 1861 

East  side, U.  D.  C.  in  monogram 

West  side, C.  S.  A.  in  monogram 


The  weather  for  the  unveiling  of  the  Confederate 
Monument  last  Friday  was  ideal  and  the  day  passed 
most  pleasantly  to  all  the  great  host  of  people  who  at- 
tended. The  crowd  was  estimated  all  the  way  from 
5,000  to  10,000,  but  we  think  a  conservative  estimate 
was  6,000  people.     Quite  a  goodly    number    of    out-of- 

39 


town  people  came  in  Thursday  eveninjj,"  and  niKht  and 
Fi'iday  nioi'n.ing  dawned  with  the  streets  looking'  lively 
and  city  like. 

Everything  on  tiie  i)rograrn  was  cari-iedout  without 
a  hitch  and  the  entire  occasion  was  conceeded  a  great 
success.  Promptly  at  ten  o'clock  the  procession  began 
forming  on  Mulberry  Street  and  shortly  afterwards,  to 
the  insi)iring-  music  by  the  Steel  Creek  Rand,  the  parade 
started.  Chief  Marshall  Clark  was  busy,  and  with  his 
corps  of  efficient  assistants  moved  the  i)rocession  with 
perfect  order  and  precision. 

An  advance  g"uard  of  four  mounted  marshals  clear- 
ed the  way  for  the  carriag'es  and  other  members  of  the 
procession  which  moved  as  follows:  First  carriage 
Mayor  Wakefield,  Lieutenant  Governor  Newland  and 
Judge  Walter  Clark  of  the  Supreme  Court,  speaker  of 
the  (lay.  Next  came  a  carriage  with  Mrs.  F.  R.  Will- 
iams, of  Newton,  president  of  the  North  Cai'olina  Divi- 
sion of  the  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy,  Mrs.  H.  C. 
Martin,  president  of  the  Zeb  Vance  Chapter  of  Lenoir, 
and  Mrs.  Roberta  L.  Gwyn.  pi-esident  elect  of  the  Zeb 
Vance  Chapter. 

Following  this  were  some  carriages  containing  some 
of  the  elderly  daug-hters  ef  the  Chapter  and  then  little 
Miss  Ella  Delight  Bernhardt,  Maid  of  Honor  who  pulled 
the  cord  to  unveil  the  momument,  and  her  assistants, 
little  Misses  Margaret  Jones,  Virg'inia  Hall.  Vanda  Tate 
Coleen  Melton  and  Sallie  Holloway  chaperoned  by  Mrs. 
W.  S.  Coving-ton,  treasurer  of  the  Chapter,  all  in  the 
handsomely  decorated  carriage  of  Mrs.  J.  M.  Bernhardt. 
Following  this  was  the  band  and  then  the  veterans 
marching  in  columns  of  fours  to  the  number  of  about 
200,  convinanded  by  Maj.  G.  W.  F.  Harper  who  was  the 
ranking  officer  of  those  present.  The  old  warriors  look- 
ed somewhat  grizzled  and  some  of  them  walked  with 
perceptable  stoop  and  limp,  but  to  the  stirring  music  of 
the  band  theii*  faces  and  eyes  showed  the  fire  and    vim 

4U 


of  the  sixties.  Many  citizens  liared  their  heads  as  the 
Kfand  old  men  passed  them  and  felt  that  the  debt  of 
honor  due  them  by  their  country  could  never  be  paid. 
The  procession  moved  up  Mulberry  street  to  Ashe  street, 
thence  to  Vance,  to  West  Main  and  to  the  momument 
and  the  g-rand  stand  which  had  been  provided  for  them. 
The  speaker's  stand  was  tastely  decorated  and  was  oc- 
cupied by  the  lady  officials  of  the  Chapter,  the  speaker 
and  other  prominent  local  and  visiting-  persons.  Rev. 
J.  F.  England,  himself  a  veteran,  led  the  vast  assem- 
blages in  an  appropriate  and  earnest  prayer,  after  which 
Mrs.  H.  C.  Martin,  local  president,  introduced  Mrs.  F. 
R.  Williams,  president  of  the  North  Carolina  Division 
of  the  Daughters,  who  made  an  interesting,  brief  ad- 
dress explaining  steps  necessary  to  be  taken  to  secure 
crosses  of  honor  and  stating  soniething  of  the  work  of 
the  organization  thi'oughout  the  State. 

Capt.  Edmund  Jones  then  introduced  the  speaker, 
Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark  of  the  North  Carolina  Su- 
preme Court,  who  delivered  an  able  and  scholarly  ad- 
dress of  about  an  hour's  length.  We  will  not  try  to  give 
a  synopsis  of  this  fine  sj^eech  but  urge  all  our  readers, 
who  did  not  hear  it,  to  read  it.  for  it  is  full  of  historic 
interest  and  tells  us  many  things  about  the  people  of 
our  own  county  which  many  of  us  never  knew. 

The  presenting  of  crosses  of  honor  to  a  number  of 
the  veterans  who  had  pi-operly  prepared  and  sent  in 
their  credentials  to  the  ladies,  was  an  interesting  inci- 
dent. Then  came  the  unveiling,  which  was  done  skil- 
fully by  a  cord  from  the  speaker's  stand,  where  the 
pretty  little  maid  of  honor  with  her  assistants  were 
stationed.  As  she  exclaimed,  "I  do  this  in  honor  of  the 
men  who  wore  the  gray."  the  veil  fell  and  a  round  of 
a])plause  went  up  from  the  assembly,  but  it  was  of  a 
subdued  nature,  few  if  any  of  the  veteraus  participat- 
ing. In  fact  a  feeling  of  deep  solemnity  and  reverence 
))ei-vaded  the  audience  as  the  stately  and  beautiful  shaft 

41 


was  exposed  to  view  and  many  moist  eyes  were  seen  in 
the  large  assembly.  After  the  Doxolog'y,  which  was 
led  by  the  band,  the  veterans,  were  served  a  splendid 
dinner  on  the  court  house  campus  which  was  much 
enjoyed,  the  greetings  and  hand  shakings  of  the  "Old 
Boys. "  as  they  called  themselves,  being  one  of  the  most 
enjoyable  features  of  this  hour.  The  closing  numberof 
the  day's  program  was  an  automobile  ride  for  the  veter- 
ans which  e\'ery  one  seemed  to  enjoy  to  the  fullest  ex- 
tent. 

Strong  Box  Placed  in  Monument 

Last  Thursday  Major  Harper  had  a  strongbox  made 
to  hold  articles  to  be  placed  in  the  monument  and  in  the 
box  was  i)laced  a  copy  of  the  sketch  of  the  58th  North 
Carolina  regiment,  a  sketch  of  the  26th  North  Carolina 
regiment,  a  copy  of  Miss  Emma  Rankins  sketch,  of  wai- 
time  expei'iences.  a  roll  of  the  veterans  of  compan\- 
A  22nd.  North  Carolina  regiment,  a  i-oll  of  the  veterans 
who  hapi)ened  to  be  in  town  on  that  day.  some  ])hoto- 
grai)hic  views  of  Lenoir,  a  few  co])ies  of  the  News,  and 
perhaps  other  ])apers. 

In  futu»-e  years  if  the  monument  should 
i)e  torn  down  to  give  i)lace  to  a  laiger  ar.d 
more  imposing  one.  these  things  will  lie  looked  ove)- 
with  much  interest.  The  box  in  which  they  are  placed 
was  of  galvanized  iron  and  was  imbedded  in  solid  ce- 
ment, in  a  nich  under  the  shaft    of    the    monument. 


42 


'*  Farthest  to  the  Front  at  Chickamauga 


Eight    Xorth    Carolina    Rc(/iiiuvits    Uliiclt    Rciiiirrcd    Pis- 
tinyuishcd  Services  in  the  Ihiffles  of  the  West — Opponents 
Better  fighters  Than   the  Eastern  federal  .Irniies. 
(By  Fred  A.  Olds) 
Written  for  The  01)server  (Charlotte). 

Xorth  Carolina's  Confederate  troops  became  very  notable 
by  reason  of  their  services  in  Mrginia,  where  more  than 
sixty  regiments  from  this  State  were  on  duty,  it  having  in 
\'irginia  a  larger  number  of  troops  than  even  the  latter 
State  itself.  There  were,  however,  Xorth  Carolina  troops 
in  what  was  known  as  the  Western  Army,  no  less  than 
eight  regiments  participating  in  the  great  battles  in  the 
West.  One  of  these  was  the  Fifty-eighth  Infantry,  of 
which  the  State  now  possesses  the  battle  flag.  ha\ing  also 
in  the  historical  col'.ection  the  musket  carried  by  a  prixate 
of  the  regiment,  and  also  a  unique  relic  in  the  shape  of 
a  box  in  which  ammunition  was  issued  by  the  Confederate 
ordnance  department  at  Richmond  to  the  Fifty-eighth. 
This  regiment  was  organized  in  ^litchell  County,  on  the 
Tennessee  line,  in  July,  1862,  John  B.  Palmer  being  its 
colonel,  the  regiment  having  been  raised  as  part  of  a  legion 
of  infantry,  cavalry,  and  artillery,  to  l)e  commanded  by 
Colonel  Palmer.  There  were  twelve  companies  in  the  regi- 
ment, which  in  September  went  to  Cumberland  Gap,  and 
was  put  under  command  of  General  Stevenson.  During  the 
following  winter,  the  command  lost  many  men  by  camp 
fever  and  measles.  In  the  following  summer,  the  regiment 
went  to  Chattanooga,  and  in  the  battle  of  Chickamauga 
was  very  prominent.      In  the  charge   by  the   Confederates 

33 


wliicli  roultcd  in  llic  capture  of  Snodgrass  llill.  llic  Federal 
stronghold,  that  e\entfnl  Sunihiy.  the  re.i^dnient  lost  in  killed 
and  wounded  (_)\  er  half  of  the  >tren,^lh  it  took  into  action. 
In  fact,  the  casualties  in  the  regiment  were  greater  than  the 
comhined  o^s  of  the  other  regiments  of  the  hrigade.  Culonel 
Palmer  was,  soon  after  the  hattle,  detache(l  and  place*]  in 
cemimand  of  the  department  of  Western  Xorth  Caro- 
lina, with  head(|tiarters  at  Ashe\"illc.  The  hrigade,  in  which 
was  placed  the  Sixtieth  Xorth  Carolina,  took-  ])art  in  the 
haltlcs  around  Chattanooga  and  in  the  defence  c»f  .Missionary 
J\idge,  where  there  was  a  stuljl)orn  hght,  the  Federal  force, 
personalK'  led  h\-  ( '.eneral  Sheridan  in  sexera!  charges,  l)eing 
repulsed.  Cien.  John  C.  1  h'eckenridge  uncoxercd  as  the 
iM'fl\-eighth  passed  him,  and  com]ilimented  the  regiment  on 
its  work. 

fift\-I:i(/lit/i  at  r^cntoiisi'Ulc 

The  war  hegan  to  come  to  an  end,  and  earlv  in  icS(i5  tlie 
regiment  was  sent  to  Sotith  Carolina,  where  it  again  con- 
frontecl  (  leneral  v^herman.  In  .March.  ( 'icneral  Johnston 
made  a  f(_)rced  march  to  1 '.entonsx  ille,  .\.  C.  where  the  ":ast 
hattle  of  tile  war  was  fought,  there  henig  a  concentration  of 
the  Confederate  forces.  The  h*ift_\-eighth,  in  this  its  last 
Ixittle,  had  thi'ee  lumdred  eHecti\e  men,  and  its  hrigade  was 
selected  as  the  directin.g  cohiniu  for  the  Army  of  Ten- 
nessee in  the  assatilt  on  the  lA'deral  line,  the  charge  l)eing 
\ery  spirited,  and  the  enenu'  (lri\en  some  distance.  This 
last  hattle.  at  1  lentonsxil'e.  was  one  of  the  most  sexere  (:»f 
the  war.  though  great  exents  were  then  crowding  each  other 
so  closely  that  r-elati\el\-  little  attention  was  jiaid  to  it.  I'-oth 
arnu"es  fought  sa\agel_\-.  ddie  restoration  of  Ceneral  John- 
ston to  the  command  ga\e  great  confidence  t()  the  armv. 
P>oth  the  Fifty-eighth  and  Sixtieth  Regiments  hehaved 
with  distingtiished  gallantrw  and  their  State  has  recorded 
th.is  fact  on  the  monument  on  the  hattlefieid  of  r.entonsville. 
March  22,  i8(>5.  Jolmston  withdrew  his  army  to  a  point  near 
Smithfield.  and  there  organized  the  ".Xrmv  of  Ten- 
nessee,"  consolidating  com])anies,   regiments,   and   hrigades. 

34 


On  the  tenth  of  Apri'.  the  rei,Mnient  niarclied  to  Raleii^h.  and 
on  tlie  sixteenth  encamped  at  Greensboro,  wliere  it  was 
chosen  as  the  guard  for  the  great  accumulation  of  North 
Carolina's  quartermaster's  stores,  the  discipline  heing  per- 
fect, and  the  men  not  demoralized  in  the  least.  While  at 
Greensboro,  the  regiment  was  given  part  of  the  money  from 
the  Confederate  military  treasure-chest,  each  man  getting  a 
dollar  and  a  quarter  in  Mexican  silver;  but,  all  the  money 
being  in  dollars,  the  men  in  groups  drew  for  the  odd  cents. 
This  was  the  first  coin  seen  by  practically  a'l  the  regiment 
during  the  entire  war. 

Singular  Disband  incut 

General  Johnston  announced  the  surrender  of  the  army, 
April  27.  and  the  regiment  was  paroled  ^lay  2.  A  very 
singular  thing  then  occurred,  the  regiment  as  an  organized 
body  marching  to  Statesville.  a  distance  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles,  where  it  was  regularly  disbanded,  the  men 
then  marching  to  their  homes.  In  the  march  from  Greens- 
boro, more  than  a  third  of  the  men,  by  order,  retained 
their  rifies.  and  carried  each  forty  rounds  of  ammunition, 
while  wagons  carried  reserve  ammimition.  rations,  and 
blankets.  Discipline  was  maintained  during  this  march 
across  the  State,  and  it  is  hardly  probable  that  any  other 
Confederate  regiment  had  such  an  experience  after  sur- 
render. The  men  retained  their  rifles,  as  has  been  stated, 
and  it  was  one  of  these,  with  the  regiment  number  upon 
the  stock,  which  is  now  in  the  Hall  of  History  at  Raleigh, 
and  which  is  a  loan  from  IMaj.  G.  W.  F.  Harper,  of  the 
Fifty-eighth.  This  permission  of  the  Federal  officers  for 
these  Confederates  to  bear  arms  was  as  a  protection  against 
"bummers"  and  other  riftrafif.  who  were  by  that  time 
spreading  and  marauding  through  Piedmont  North  Carolina 
and  some  of  the  extreme  western  coimties. 


35 


North  Carolina  at  Chickamauga 

Extract  from  the  Lenoir  Topic. 

The  State  of  North  Carolina.  September  iq  and  20, 
1863,  was  represented  in  the  i^reat  liattle  of  Chickamauga 
by  four  regiments  of  infantry — the  Twenty-ninth.  Thirty- 
ninth,  Fifty-eiglith,  and  Sixtieth — no  two  of  them  Ijeing  in 
the  same  brigade. 

The  State,  by  the  act  of  its  recent  General  Assembly, 
appropriated  ii^50o.oo  to  defray  the  expense  of  putting  up 
stone  markers,  showing  the  positions  occupied  by  the  several 
regiments  named  during  or  at  the  close  of  the  battle. 

The  appropriation  being  too  small  to  secure  suitable 
markers.  'Mr.  G.  \\'.  Hinshaw,  president  of  the  Blount  Airy 
Granite  Company,  generously  presented  suitable  granite 
monuments,  weighing  one  or  two  tons  each,  dressed  on  one 
side  for  the  inscription,  and  the  Southern  Railway  delivered 
them  at  Chattanooga,  free  of  charge  for  freight.  These 
monuments  have  recently  been  placed  in  position,  under  the 
supervision  of  Maj.  A.  C.  Avery,  late  Judge  of  our  Supreme 
Court,  who  is  chairman  of  the  Commission  appointed  for 
the  purpose  in  the  Act  of  the  North  Carolina  Legislature. 
Major  Avery,  an  ofificer  under  Gen.  D.  H.  Hill,  having 
served  in  this  battle,  and  being  familiar  with  the  ground,  his 
appointment  on  the  Commission  to  receive  and  place  these 
monuments  was  most  judicious. 

Caldwell  County  having  two  companies — Company  E, 
Captain  Stewart's ;  and  Company  H,  Captain  Harper's — 
in  the  Fifty-eighth  Regiment,  the  location  of  the  monument, 
with  the  inscription  that  it  bears,  will  doubtless  be  of  interest 
to  the  survivors  of  that  command,  and  their  friends.  The 
monument  to  this   regiment,  which   was  a  part  of   Kelly's 

37 


Brigade,  I 'restoii's  r)i\isi(Ui,  of  Liuckner's  Corps,  stands  on 
the  summit  of  Snodgrass  Hi  1,  a  commanding  position  where 
the  sexerest  hgliting  at  close  i|uarters  occurred;  and  wliere. 
ahoul  se\en  p.  m..  a  large  ]H)rtion  of  the  h'ederal  op])osing 
force  was  captured — this  heing  llie  la>t  tiring  in  the  hattle. 
The  regiment  loss  here — killed  4(),  wounded  i  i^,  missing  r  ; 
total    if>i — was  o\er  half  of  th().se  carried  into  action. 

included  in  this  statement,  Compau}'  \\  lost  nine  killed, 
twe'\e  wounded;  Compau}'  il  lost  eight  kille<l.  eleven 
wounded. 

The  inscription  is  a>  follows; 

.VoKI'll    C.\KoI,|.\A 

''lircctcd   by   the   State   of   XortJi     i'aroliiia     to     Mark     the 

li.vtrcinc  I'oliit  attained  In  a  (  'hari/e  hy  the  R'ujht  of  tJie 

J' ij ty-etijhth    Wnih    Laroliiia    l\e(/inteiit ,   about   si.v 

p.    in..    Sef'teniber    20.    iSf)^ 

The  monument  is  southeast  of  the  tall  steel  (  )l)ser\atory 
on  Snodgrass  llih.  and  ahotU  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
feet  from  it.  The  monument  to  the  Thirty-fifth  (  )hio  Regi- 
ment, Colonel  lloxnton,  stands  in  front  of  and  ahottt  twentv 
feet  from  the  monument  to  the  Fiftv-eighth  Xorth  Carolina. 

The  writer,  in  companv  with  Sergt.  Elijah  11.  Crump, 
Company  11,  iMfty-eighth  Xorth  Carolina  Regiment,  and 
veterans  representing  other  Xorth  Carolina  regiments, 
visited  the  hattleground  on  the  tenth  instant.  We  were 
shown  marked  courtesies  by  the  ofticials  of  the  Chickamauga 
I'ark  Coiuiuission,  and  hy  \-eterans  of  Forest  Camp,  of  Chat- 
tanooga. 

Sergeant  Crump  was  severely  wounded  in  this  battle^ 
his  name  being  on  the  list  of  mortally  wounded.  1  le  realized 
that  he  stood  on  the  same  ground  on  which  he  fell,  griev- 
otisly  wounded,  fort\'-two  years  before. 

A  stee'  tal)let,  erected  near  the  spot  by  the  Chickamauga 
National  i'ark  Comnussion,  also  marks  the  position  of  the 

38 


Fifty-eighth  Regiment  at  the  close  of  tliat  eventful  vSunday. 
For  this  inscription,  se^c  Clark's  Histories  of  North  Carolina 
Regiments.  \'ol.  Ill,  page  435. 

A  singular  coincidence  in  the  names  of  two  of  the  officers 
commanding  two  opposing  regiments  develops  in  the  name 
of  Col.  n.  Boynton.  of  the  Thirty-fifth  Ohio,  and  that  of 
Col.  John  Boynton  Palmer,  of  the  Fifty-eighth  North  Caro- 
lina Regiment.  Both  of  these  officers  were  northern  men 
by  birth. 

— G.   W.   F.  Harper 


39 


A  Wartime  Furlough 

(By  AFaj.  G.  W.  F.  Harpkr) 

In  the  latter  ])art  of  Deeember,  1863,  Gen.  Josepli  E. 
Johnston,  tlien  in  command  of  the  army  of  Tennessee,  at 
Da'ton.  Ga.,  granted  leave  of  absence  or  furloughs  to  a 
large  number  of  the  officers  and  enlisted  men  of  the  army — 
the  term  "leave  of  absence"  was  usually  ai)pliecl  to  officers, 
and  "furlough''  to  enlisted  men.  The  length  of  these  fur- 
loughs was  to  each  ofticer  or  enlisted  man  an  allowance  of 
ten  days'  stay  at  honK\  'J'hose  to  men  of  Caldwell  County. 
N.  C.  were  for  eighteen  days,  giving  eight  days  for  the 
round  trip,  and  the  ten  davs  at  home. 

With  my  lea\e  was  granted  furloughs  to  several  men 
of  my  Company,  and  a  like  proportion  from  other  Com- 
panies of  the  Fifty-eighth  North  Carolina  Regiment. 

The  sketch  following,  copied  from  a  pocket  diary  kept 
at  the  time,  will  give  some  idea  of  the  delay  and  discomforts 
incident  to  railway  travel  in  those  troublous  times.  Heavy 
rains,  with  washouts,  and  extreme  cold  weather  following, 
aggravated  the  conditions  in  the  case  before  us : 

Thursday,  December  31,   1863 

Dalton.  Ga. — Heavy  rain  all  day ;  night  clear,  and  very 
cold.  Received  an  eighteen-days  "Leave."  Sergeant-Major 
Inglis  also  in  Tick.  Called  on  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Hardy. 
Night,  waded  through  the  rain  and  wind,  and  took  train 
for  Atlanta  at  eight  o'clock,  on  a  car  without  a  stove,  and 
seats  without  cushions.  The  case  made  more  provoking 
by  the  slow  train,  which  insured  failure  to  connect  with 
outgoing  train  at  Atlanta. 

41 


Friday,  January   i,   iS(>4 

Clear,  \ery  cold,  .and  lii.i^li  wind.  Arrixcnl  at  Atlanta 
sc\en  hours  too  late  for  Auijiista  train — Atlanta  Hotel. 
Left  for  .\u.i.,^usta  at  d.^o  \>.  m.  Car  comfortable,  but 
another  slow  train,  and  hopelessK'  liehmd  time  again. 

v^aturda}-,   januar_\    2.    iS()4 

Clear  and  cold.     Augusta,    i  i  .00  a.  m.     (Air  train   was 
dtie  at    four.      Mainburg,   S.  C,  o\-e'rtl(_)we(l  liy   freshet,  and 
\ugirsta   parti}-   so.      Clobe    1  lotel.       Took   a   walk   o\er   the 
town. 

P.  M. — Walked  across  Saxannali  Ri\er  I)ri(!ge,  and  took 
])assage  through  the  submerged  streets  of  llamburg  in  a 
boat,  thence  on  foot  half-mile  to  a  train  at  farther  side  of 
a  washout.  I'ulled  out  at  seven  and  made  the  surprising 
distance  of  twehe  miles  in  two  hours.  Llranchville,  S.  C. 
4.00  a.  m. — sexeral  hours  behind  time  again.  Our  crowd 
took  possession  of  wacant  room,  and  managed  to  keep  a 
small  tire  with  barrel  staves,  palings,  etc.,  until  morning. 

v'-^unday,  January  3,   1864 

Clear,  cold,  pleasant.  Inglis  secured  a  sumptuous  I)re,ak- 
fast  for  himse'f  anil  the  writer  at  a  Mr.  Morrow's,  and  all 
compensation  refused  by  our  kind  entertainer.  Cars  at  one 
p.  m.  .Xnother  slow  train;  arri\ed  at  Columbia  three  hours 
after  Charlotte  train  had  left.  Stock  of  patience  becoming 
much  depleted.     A  night  at  Congaree  I  louse. 

Monday,  January  4.  1864 

Cloudy,  cold.  Train  at  eight  a.  m.  Encountered  a  train 
off  track  at  \\'iimsl)oro — two  hours'  delav  here.  A  fine  pros- 
pect of  missing  connection  at  Cliarlotte  foiled  bv  high  rate 
of  speed,  forty  miles  an  hour,  for  the  balance  of  the  wav. 
Train  at  Charlotte  for  Salisbury  at  dark.  Spent  the  day 
reading  W'ilkie  Collins'  "No  Name."  Salisburv.  nine  p.  m.. 
Mansion  1  lotel. 

42 


.^a'isliurw  Tuesday.  January  5.  \S<()4 

Clear,  cold,  i)leasant.  Xo  train  today  on  Western  Xortli 
Carolina  Railway,  in  conse(|uence  of  slide  in  bank  (jf  deep 
cut  six  miles  out.  jol)  was  nc\er  so  detained  on  a  railroad, 
traveling  on  a  short  furlough — this  is  ni_\-  prixate  ojjinion. 
Returned  to  "Xo  Xaine."  a  f(jrtunate  purchase — what  else 
could  1  ha\e  resorted  to  for  relief  today? 

Wednesda_\-,  January  6,   1864 

Cloudy,  cold.  Train  seven  ;  started  at  nine ;  changed  cars 
at  the  slide  or  washout.  Another  hour  gone  here,  and  an- 
other lost  by  stalling  on  road  to  Statesvi'le  for  want  of  dry 
wood.  "No  Name""  for  it.  (  Coal  was  not  then  in  general 
use  on  Southern  Railrtjads.  )  Poor  dinner,  in  the  woods  at 
Catawba,  for  the  ridiculously  low  price  of  three  dollars. 

A  charming  voung  lady  on  the  next  seat  obliged  me  while 
at  dinner  by  taking  u\>  "Xo  Name"  and  monopolizing  its 
contents  for  the  balance  of  the  ride  to  the  next  town.  She. 
of  course,  did  not  know  that  I  had  left  oil  reading  at  an 
intensely  interesting  point  of  the  story — how  cou'd  she? — or 
that  I  had  no  resource  left  me  but  to  post  up  my  journal  on 
the  spot. 

The  charming  V.  L. :  "W  by  don't  she  take  the  .-.(jualling 
thing  by  the  head  and  throw  it  out  of  the  window?  Whose 
child  is  that?" 

Young  Gent :  "Don't  know,  ma'am  ;  that  would  be  a  difft- 
cult  question  for  me  to  answer  you  just  now." 

The  charming  Y.  L.  subsides  for  the  next  ten  minutes. 

Hickory,  six  p.  m.  Dismounted  from  the  train  which  had 
carried  us  safely  for  nearly  sixty  miles  in  nine  hours,  and 
struck  out  on  foot  for  Lenoir,  nineteen  miles,  which  we 
reached  at  11.30.  There  was  no  other  way  to  get  there. 
Dark,  cloudy  night;  road  rough    and  frozen;  bad  w^alking. 

Home,  Sweet  Home.  Tiresome  tramp  soon  forgotten 
in  the  pleasures  and  comforts  of  home. 

43 


(  )n  Icax'ing  I  I  ickor}-.  uur  iiarl_\-  minil)ere(l  almut  ten 
arni\-  men.  Tlircc  oiilx' — In^-lis.  nnself.  and  a  ne\L;"ro  man — 
rcacliLMl  Lenoir  the  >ame  ni.ijht  :  llu'  otlier  fc'lows  fell  (Hit  at 
dilfercnt  ])iMnts.  and  miu.s^Iu  rest  and  >lce]i  ])\  imiiromptu 
cam])th"cs  (Ui  tlic  \va\sidc. 

In.i;li^.  Seri;cant-.Ma j(ir  of  the  Ivc^'imcnt.  a  faitlifnl  friend 
and  conn-ade,  wa^  killeil  in  the  dpenins^'  hattle  of  the  Atlanta 
c-am]>ai,i;n  alxiut  two  nKmllis  iater.  ,<4i-eatl\-  to  the  loss  and 
i^rief  of  his  friend,  the  writer. 

An  aii])Iieation  for  an  extension  of  our  furloughs  so  as 
to  i;'i\e  u^  the  adotteil  lime  at  home  w  a>  ilisa]>iiro\ed  at 
Arm_\-  headi|uarters.  hut  our  hrij^ade  olVicerN  withhe'd  the 
pajier^  from  us,  uotifyin^^  Us  to  take  the  ten  (la\s  at  home, 
whieh  we  were  ,i;iad  to  do.  We  made  the  return  trip  in 
tne  day^,  taking;   with  u^  >e\  eral   recruit^  for  our  Coinpanv. 

The  reference  to  the  death  of  lii^lis  hrings  up  to  the 
writer  the  fate  of  a  numher  (»f  his  attached  friends  and  com- 
rades. (  If  his  mosmates.  >ix  were  kil'ed  in  hattle,  and, 
includiu!^-  himself.  fi\e  were  wounded.  The  ])ersonnel  of 
the  mess  was  coiistantl\-  (diani,Mnt;".  Imt  the  casualties  stated 
em])hasize  the  saiii^uinaiw  character  of  the  War. 


M 


The  Capture  of  Fort  Hamby 

(  \)y  S.  Fixi,L-:v   1 1  ari'iik  ) 

In  March,  i8()5,  General  Stoneman,  with  a  large  l)0(ly 
of  cavalry,  left  Hast  Tennessee  on  a  raid  into  Xortli  Caro- 
lina. Passing  through  Watauga  County,  the_\-  entered 
Boone,  the  county  seat,  on  March  2().  The  command  then 
divided.  General  Stoneman  going  toward  W'ilkesboro,  while 
the  other,  General  Gil'.iam,  crossed  the  Blue  Ridge  at  Blow- 
ing Rock  and  to  Patterson,  where  they  began  their  \  anda'ism 
by  burning  the  cotton  and  wool  mill  with  all  its  contents  and 
a  large  amoiuit  of  other  property  in  the  store  and  ware- 
houses. This  burning  was  without  provocation,  and  as  the 
Union  citizens  of  East  Tennessee  were  getting  their  supplies 
of  cotton  yarn  and  cloth  at  this  mill  its  destruction  by  the 
Union  army  was  a  great  surprise.  This  force,  leaxing  Pat- 
terson, went  to  W'ilkesboro,  arresting  along  the  wa_\-  a  num- 
ber of  old  and  infirm  non-combatants.  A  numl)er  of  worth- 
less characters  deserted  v'^toneman's  command  along  this 
march,  and  formed  with  native  bushwhackers  bands  under 
the  leadership  of  two  desperate  men.  Wade  and  Simmons. 

Wade's  party  located  in  a  log  house  on  a  high  hill  half- 
mile  north  of  Holman's  Ford  of  the  Yadkin  River,  in  Wilkes 
County.  Being  heavily  armed  with  army  rifles  and  pistols, 
they  made  daily  raids  into  the  surrounding  country,  rob- 
bing, plundering,  and  terrorizing  the  citizens,  taking  every- 
thing they  could  find  to  eat,  as  well  as  horses,  etc.  Their 
practice  was  to  ride  up  to  a  house,  dismount,  and  enter, 
pointing  loaded  guns  at  any  person  occupying  the  house, 
threatening  to  shoot  if  they  opened  their  mouths,  while 
others  were  searching  closets,  trunks,  drawers,  etc.,  taking 
what  suited  them.     The  people  for  miles  and  miles  In  the 

45 


counlr\  surrounding  li\fil  in  constant  dread  nf  tliem,  as 
tlK'V  seemed  iVded  with  a  spirit  nf  hatred  and  re\enge.  treat- 
ing all  i)ersuns  not  in  >\m|)ath_\'  with  them  with  the  greatest 
crueltw 

'J"he  house  the_\-  u>ed  for  headtjuarters  was  hnel_\'  located 
for  oflensi\e  as  well  as  defensixe  operaticms.  (  )n  a  high 
hill,  facing  the  \'adkin  lvi\er  on  the  south  and  front,  and 
Lewis'  lM)i"k  on  the  west,  their  guns  couhl  sweep  the  country 
for  a  half-nnle  each  wa_\-  up  and  down  the  ri\er.  The 
house  was  two  sloiaes.  with  jiortholes  cut  in  the  upper  storw 
It  was  formerl\-  (n-cupie(l  1)\'  a  famih'  named  Ilamhy.  and 
aftei'  heing  fortitivil  was  known  as  Fort  IIaml)y. 

The  roliliers.  numhering  ]irohahl_\'  twenty-h\e  or  thirty, 
made  se\e]-al  raid.^  into  Caldweh  and  Alexander  Counties, 
rolihing.  plundering,  and  insulting  in  the  grossest  manner 
the  women  and  children,  the  alile-ho(heil  men  heing  in  the 
C<infederale  Arnhes.  Maj.  Mar\ey  Ih'ngham.  with  a  small 
home-guard  force,  fohowed  the  raiders  out  of  Cahlwell 
Count \-  on  Ma\-  d,  executed  a  well-]ilanned  mo\e  on  the 
fort  at  night,  and  comjilcteK  sur].)rising  the  <lefen(lers  en- 
tered the  house.  The  men  hegged  for  their  lixes,  and  no 
arms  heing  in  .^ight  Major  I'ingham  ga\e  them  time  to  dress. 
The  prisoners,  taking  adxantage  of  this  opportunity,  rushed 
for  their  guns,  and  hred  on  the  attacking  ]iarty.  killing  two 
—  Rohert  Clarke,  son  of  (".eneral  Clarke,  and  Henry  ITenlcv. 
both  ui  Caldwell  County.  The_\'  were  hrax-e  Confederate 
soldiers,  and  sij'endid  men.  The  others,  seeing  themsehes 
o\eri)Owered.  made  their  esca])e.  leaying  the  dead  bodies  on 
the  ground. 

The  next  week  Wade  made  a  raid  into  Alexander 
County,  with  the  a\o\yed  intention  of  killing  Lieutenant 
Grt-en,  son  of  Lew  L  L.  Cireen.  who  had  returned  home, 
after  the  surrender  of  the  Confederate  Armw  Heing  in- 
formed of  their  intention.  Mr.  C.reen  i)rei)ared  to  give  them 
a  warm  receiiti(^n.  The_\-  came  and  surrounded  the  house. 
Wade,  wearing  a  suit  of  gray,  ckaimed  to  l.)e  an  ofhcer  in  the 

4^^ 


Cunfedcralc  Arnix  returning"  Ikhuc,  and  wislicd  a  nit^lirs 
IddniiiiL;'.  (  M"ccn  c<.)uld,  how  c'\  ct.  sec  iIk'IIi,  and  said,  "i  know 
_\du,  and  _\()U  can'l  conic  in  licrc  un"css  it  is  o\cr  ni\-  dead 
hod}'."  'I'hrce  of  the  gani;'  were  aliout  t(j  force  entrance 
through  a  rear  \vin(low,  when  Lieutenant  Green  rushed  to 
tlie  place  and  hrcd  on  tlieni.  sligiuly  wounchng  one  of  them. 
Tlic_\-  then  with(h-e\v,  leaxing  two  horses,  and  returneil  in 
haste  to  the  fort. 

Coh  Washington  Sharpe,  of  IredeU  County,  gathered 
up  about  twenty  men,  sokhers  just  returned  from  the  Con- 
federate .\rni_\-  at  Appomattox,  pursued,  crossing  the  \'ad- 
kin  Ri\-er,  rushed  up  to  within  a  few  vards  of  the  fort, 
when  Wades  men  opened  tire  and  killed  two — Mr.  Jas. 
Linney,  brother  of  Hon.  R.  Z.  Linney,  and  ]\Ir.  Jones 
Brown.  Seeing  their  hazardous  situation,  the  others  made 
a  hasty  retreat,  leaving  the  two  dead  bodies.  This  second 
disastrous  repulse  greatly  depressed  our  ])eople,  but  they 
determined  the  place  must  be  taken  at  all  hazards.  Colonel 
Sharpe  co'lected  a  squad  of  al)OUt  twenty  returned  soldiers, 
and  sent  a  message  to  Caldwell  County  for  help.  A  numlier 
went  from  Lenoir.  Among  them  is  remembered,  A.  S. 
Kent,  T.  L.  Norwood,  Jas.  W'.  Xorwood,  George  IL  Dula, 
Robert  B.  Dula,  and  S.  F.  Harper.  They  collected  others 
along  the  wav,  and  met  Rev.  Isaac  Oxford  with  a  party 
from  the  Little  River  country.  They  all  i)roceeded  to  near 
Holman's  Ford,  and  waited  for  the  Alexander  company. 
This  was  about  ATav  18.  The  day  before  this,  as  a  man  and 
his  wife  were  in  a  wagon  approaching  the  ford,  the  robbers 
opened  fire  from  the  fort  and  killed  the  woman. 

We  were  told  bv  citizens  living  nearby  that  W'adc  was 
expecting  us,  and  that  we  had  better  return;  that  we  cou'd 
not  take  the  fort,  as  they  probably  had  sent  for  recruits,  etc 
Colonel  Sharpe  was  put  in  command,  and  Captain  Oxford 
and  T.  L.  Xorwood  in  command  of  the  Caldwell  company. 
After  consultation,  it  was  decided  to  attack  not  by  storm; 
but  surround  and  cut  them  off  from  water  and  compel 
surrender  by  seige.     Skirmishers  were  sent  forward  to  pre- 

47 


\  L'lU  ;mil)U.sli.  r.\-  a  dctnur,  the  Cdmniauil  came  in  on  the 
rear,  ami  e>tal)!i>lie(l  ])ickel  ])()Sl^;  on  tlirce  sides  nf  ilie  fort. 
(  )ur  men  kept  U]i  fn-in^-  on  the  house  all  dax  .  and  ihev  re- 
turned the  lire  with  sueh  accuracx'  that  (lur  men  had  to  i)ro- 
tect  theniseKes  hehind  trees  and  l(),i,^s.  When  the\"  found 
t]ie_\-  were  surrounded.  lhe\-  raised  a  teiadhle  \-ell.  and  with 
fearful  oaths  eui-sed  our  men   ami   dared   them  to  come  on. 

.\ear  nij4iit.  our  lines  were  mo\  ed  up  nearer.  As  da\'- 
'i,i;ht  appi-oacheil.  .Mr.  Sharjie,  from  IixmIcH.  who  was  ^la- 
tioned  near  the  spriui.;-.  \  er_\  (juieth  ci"ept  up  to  the  (jld 
kitchen,  huilt  of  >mall  jiine  lo^s.  which  was  oM  and  drv, 
kee])in!^  tlu'  kitchen  hetween  himself  and  the  fort;  i)Ut  a 
match  to  It,  and  dashed  hack  to  his  ]iost.  Soon  the  kitchen 
was  ahlaze,  and  the  hunhn^-  lirandx  fell  on  the  roof  of  the 
fort.  It  was  now  oui"  time  to  \ell,  which  was  done.  .\  de- 
mand tor  surrender  was  made.  The\"  asked  what  would  he 
done  with  them,  and  wei'e  told  that  the\-  wnuld  he  killed. 
'Jdiey  came  out.  with  Wade  in  froiU.  Me  raised  his  hands 
as  thouj^h  he  intended  sui'remlei'ini;".  made  a  dash  down  the 
hi  1  to  the  ri\er.  fortunateh'  tor  Inm  ])assinL;  hetween  twaj 
of  our  picket  jiosts.  made  his  escape  to  the  ri\er.  and  hid 
under  the  hank.  .\  luimher  of  shots  were  fired  at  him,  hut 
it  was  still  too  dark  to  see  him  well.  Di'.i^ent  .search  was 
made,  hut  he  could  not  he  found. 

h\jur  of  W  ade"s  men  surrendered,  and  much  stolen  hootv 
of  \arious  kinds  was  found  in  the  house,  and  a  nuniher  of 
stolen  horses  in  the  lot  nearhy.  There  were  onl\-  h\e  men 
in  the  fort  at  this  time — W  ade.  and  four  others.  It  was 
cjuickh'  decided  that  the  four  should  pay  the  ]K-nalt\-  with 
their  li\es,  after  gixin^-  them  a  little  time  to  prepare  for 
death.  Upon  re(]uest  of  the  Colonel.  Rev.  Isaac  (Oxford 
said  he  wou'd  jtray  for  them,  and  handing-  his  gun  to  a 
conu'ade  he  thanked  ("lod  that  none  of  us  were  killed  and 
that  I'ustice  ha<l  o\'ertak-en  them  at  last.  Then  after  Rev. 
W.  R.  (Avaltnev  jiraved  for  them  the_\-  were  tied  to  stakes, 
and  shot  to  death  in  regular  militar_\'  fashion. 

48 


'rheca])lurc  and  cxcciuion  ot  tliisliand  had  a  \  cr\'  whole- 
some efk'ct  in  crtcctuallx'  (hscitura^in^"  an\-  othci"  parlies  that 
were  inclined  to  j^o  into  r()l)l)in<;\  ])lunderin^-,  and  murder- 
ing business,  and  our  countr\-  has  liad  no  more  of  it.  dhe 
capture  and  destruction  of  lM)rt  llanil)}'  and  il>  defender^ 
ga\e  a  ,^ieal  relief  to  the  whole  surrounding  country. 

Patterson,  N.  C,  April,  1913. 


49 


The  Capture  of  Camp  Vance,  and  the 
Skirmish  at  Moore's  Crossroads 

(By  Maj.  G.  \V.  F.  Harper) 

In  tlie  summer  of  1864,  the  unfinished  Western  North 
Carolina  Railroad  was  operated  to  a  point  in  Burke  County, 
N.  C,  about  four  miles  east  of  Morganton,  near  which  the 
village  of  Drexel  now  stands.  Here  was  located  a  camp  of 
instruction  for  a  small  force  of  junior  reserves  for  the 
Southern  Army.  There  being  no  Federal  Army  nearer  than 
East  Tennessee,  no  guard  was  on  duty,  and  the  camp  had 
little  or  no  supply  of  arms  or  ammunition  for  its  defense. 

C)n  the  twenty-eighth  of  June,  1864,  a  messenger  brought 
the  news  to  Lenoir  that  this  post,  known  as  Camp  Vance, 
had  been  captured  by  a  Yankee  raid  from  Tennessee,  which 
might  take  the  route  by  Lenoir  on  its  return. 

Men  were  scarce  in  Lenoir  in  those  troublous  days — 
most  of  the  able-bodied  men  being  at  the  front  in  the 
Southern  armies — a  few  of  them  only  at  home,  on  fur- 
lough, on  account  of  wounds  or  disease.  One  of  this  class 
was  the  writer,  waiting  for  the  healing  up  of  a  bullet  hole 
made  the  month  previous  through  his  leg  in  the  battle  of 
Resaca,  Ga.  To  secure  information,  four  or  five  men,  in- 
cluding the  writer,  volunteered  to  scout  at  once  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Camp  Vance,  and  poorly  armed  and  mounted  were 
soon  on  the  road.  Crossing  Lower  Creek  at  Corpening's 
Bridge,  the  squad  rode  rapidly  until  near  Johnson's  Ferry 
on  the  Catawba,  at  which  the  raid  had  crossed,  and  learning 
that  it  was  returning  by  the  same  route  over  which  it  came 
the  day  before,  the  scouting  squad  returned  to  Corpening's 
Bridge,  and  kept  guard  over  it  during  the  night. 

51 


Atlcr  cnjdxiui;-  a  ^-(i,,,!  hrcakfast,  tn  wliich  Mr.  [oe 
C(ir|>L-niii,i^-  iinitcil  u>,  the  sijuad.  reinforced  1)\-  our  ho>t 
and  three  of  his  neighbors,  all  o\  er  eon>cri]it  aj^^e.  with  tlieir 
Hinlloek  s(|Uirre]  rifles,  nio\  ed  out  in  ]>ursuit  of  the  raid, 
and  soon  fell  o]i  the  traces  of  it.  Crossini;-  hilni's  Rixer  at 
I'erkiiis.  we  found  the  hulies  of  that  and  I  )r.  AlcDoweH's 
chai-nniii^-  homes  nidl<4nant  at  the  insolence  of  the  stra.<4;u:lers 
of  the  raid,  who  insulted  and  rohhed  tlivni.  lloth  these 
fann'hes  wd'e  near  relati\es  of  the  two  Mil'ers  of  our  ]iarty. 

.\s  all  faxored  a  rai)id  pursvut.  with  a  \vell-nl.t,di  cer- 
taint_\-  of  a  ti^ht  in  a  few  hotirs,  it  was  su^'^ested  1)\"  some  of 
our  coo'vr  heads  that  we  had  no  organization,  and  shou'.d 
elect  a  commander  then  and  there,  which  was  done  while 
momUed.  The  wi'iter,  who  was  not  a  candidate,  was  com])li- 
nieiUed  1>\  a  nonnnat'on  ;ind  the  miamnious  \(ite  of  hi- 
ei.i^lu  t-onn"ades  o]-  companiiins,  and  the  command  fijrward 
was  forthwith  i^'ixcn. 

This  was  at  one  ]>.  m.  In  the  in-xl  houi'.  after  a  furious 
ride,  our  horses  coxered  with  foam,  we  encountered  the  rear 
!.^"uard  of  the  vnemx'  at  Moore's  Crossroads,  ahout  h\e  miles, 
and  after  a  li\el\-  skirnnsh  drove  them,  capturing'  one 
prisoner,  two  mules  partl\-  loaded  with  plunder,  two  army 
carbines  and  ])isto's.  (  )ur  loss  was  a  hue  horse  killed  under 
Robert  C.  Miller:  and  the  Ca])tain's  little  steed  was  shot 
imder  him  and  left  on  the  >4'rotnid.  The  saddles  were  trans- 
fered  to  the  ca])tured  nuiles.  but  otir  S(|uad  was  too  much 
disori^anized  to  contintie  the  ])tn-suit,  with  a  handful  onl_\- 
of  I)roken-(l()wn   men  and  horses. 

The  little  mare  shot  down  was  perha])s  twelve  or  fifteen 
years  old,  and  was  the  favorite  steed  and  pet  of  the  writer's 
mother,  who  was  a  tine  e(|uestrian.  It  may  interest  the 
lo\ers  of  good  stock  to  know  that  this  animal  was  carefully 
looked  after,  and  in  a  few  weeks  was  able  to  return  to  her 
home,  on'v  to  encounter  more  enemies.  \\  hen  Stoncman's 
Cavalry  raid  passed  through  Lenoir,  in  ^S,h^.  she  was 
seized  and  carried  off  by  it.  but   soon  broke   down   under 

52 


Iiard  usay'c,  and  wa--  aliandoiK'il  and  Ictl  a  tew  nnlcs  \ve>l 
of  Aloryantiin.  Tlii^  faitlit'ul,  I)all\'-si,-arre(l  \  cR-ran  w  is 
a.y^ain  rccoxcred.  and  restored  to  lier  owner's  home,  wiiei'e 
she  lixed  some  \ears  thereafter. 

(  )n  the  followini^-  day,  a  well-armed  detachment  from 
the  ,i,^arrison  at  Salishury.  with  militia  and  x'olunteers  from 
llurke  Count}",  all  under  the  command  of  Col.  Allen  Ilrown, 
of  the  h'irst  Xorth  C\arolina  l\e,q-iment.  overtook  and  at- 
tacked the  raiders  on  the  mountainside  several  miles  north 
of  the  crossroarls.  The  enem\-,  heing  well  armed,  and  hoM- 
uv^  a  strong  position  the  attack  was  repulsed  with  'oss,  and 
the  raiders  got  awa_\-  with  the  prisoners  the_\-  had  taken  at 
Camp  A'ance.  Hon.  W'aightstill  W.  Avery,  of  Morganton, 
a  distinguished  North  Carolinian,  was  here  killed,  as  was 
also  Philip  Chandler,  formerly  a  citizen  of  Lenoir. 

Ahout  the  time  of  the  skirmish  at  the  Crossroads,  a  party 
of  Burke  County  mounted  men  got  in  advance  of  the  raid- 
ers, and  fired  on  the  head  of  the  column  as  it  approached, 
unfortunately  killing  one  of  the  prisoners  taken  at  Camp 
A^ance. 

The  hard  riding  and  exposure  in  this  atlair  chafed  and 

irritated  the  unhealed  wound  of  the  waiter,  and  laid  him  up 

two  months  or  more  for  repairs — the  latter  end  of  that  man's 

wound  being  worse  than  the  first. 

'J 
The  fodowing  named  men  composed  the  stjuad  of  nine 

in  the  ^Moore's  Crossroads  skirmish  : 

G.  W.  F.  Harper,  Captain,  of  Lenoir;  Robert  C.  Miller,  of 
Lenoir;  Xelson  A.  Miller,  of  Lenoir;  Columbus  A.  Tuttle, 
of  Tw^enty-sixth  Xorth  Carolina  Regiment,  of  Lenoir; 
W'm.  P.  Sudderth,  of  Company  F,  Twenty-sixth  North 
Carolina  Regiment;  Joseph  Corpening.  of  Caldwell 
County;  W.  Alphonso  Setzer,  of  Caldwell  Countv  ;  Abram 
S.  Kent,  of  Caldwell  County;  C.  A.  Ambler,  a  refugee, 
from  Richmond,  Ya. ;  a  cavalryman,  name  unknown,  of 
Vaughn's  Cavalry  P>rigade. 

53 


Sherman  at  Columbia 

(By  Ma.].  G.  W.  F.  Harper) 
To  the  Confederate  I'eteran: 

I  have  read  with  interest  the  articles  in  the  Veteran  for 
November,  by  Gen.  M.  C.  Ikitler  and  others,  on  the  burning 
of  the  Congaree  bridge,  at  Columbia,  S.  C..  on  February 
i6,  1865,  and  I  note  your  comment  that  "other  reports  on 
this  subject  will  be  of  interest."  As  I  happened  to  be  all 
along  there  about  that  date,  I  will  state  a  few  facts  that 
were  then  and  there  recorded. 

On  February  4,  the  writer  was  on  the  north  bank  of  the 
Edisto,  near  liranchville,  S.  C.  in  command  of  the  Fifty- 
eighth  Xorth  Carolina  Regiment.  This  regiment,  with 
other  troops  of  Farmer's  Brigade,  freshly  arrixed  from  the 
Augusta  train,  was  moving  to  meet  our  old  antagonists  of 
Sherman's  army.  This  veteran  brigade  of  infantry,  then 
numerically  small,  led  by  that  model  soldier.  Gen.  Joseph 
B.  Palmer,  of  ]\Iurfreesboro,  Tenn.,  was  the  van  of  the 
Army  of  Tennessee. 

From  our  bivouac  on  the  river  bank,  we  were  aroused 
at  a  late  hour  of  our  first  night  in  South  Carolina  by  the 
command:  "Take  up  your  blankets,  and  fall  in  at  once." 
Our  route  was  across  the  county  bridge,  here  spanning  the 
river,  then  west  over  a  road  running  south  of  the  river  to 
the  village  of  Midway,  through  which  we  passed  before 
dawn. 

It  was  a  bright,  cold  winter's  night,  and  the  fields  in  the 
moonlight  were  white  with  frost.  At  four  a.  m.  of  the  fifth, 
the  brigade  halted,  stacked  arms,  and  sought  rest  and  repose. 
I  recall  that,  without  fire,  upon  a  single  blanket  spread  upon 

55 


the  frost-cnxcred  leaxcs  and  one  fur  coxcring",  witli  a  \(.)iinj;' 
lieutenant  as  bedfelltiw".  tlie  eiiU])le  sle])t  s<>undl\  and  >\\eetl\' 
until  the  huqle  ead  at  siinri>e.  The  men.  thiuK'  clad,  each 
carryiuL;'  a  simple  h'ankct,  dften  on  slmrt  rations,  passed  the 
se\  ere  wintei"  of    iS(i4-()3  in  acti\e  tieM  ser\ice. 

In  the  prime  of  life.  >ti"onL;".  actixe.  cheerful.  fun-l(j\  ing, 
li\in,i;  in  the  open  air  the  _\ear  around,  a  s^reat  part  of  the 
time  on  the  march,  ihcy  hecame  inured  to  ]iard>hi]i>.  and 
complaints  of  cx]io~,ure  to  tlie  winter's  cold  were  I'ai'clv 
heard,  ddie  (piestion  of  rations  ,i,''a\e  them  more  concern. 
All  of  this  applies  with  like  force  to  the  tield  and  company 
ofhccrs.  who  were  e(juall\  cx]iosed  with  the  ])ri\"ate  soMiers. 
The  old  \elerans  who  marclied  with  1  ,ee  and  Jackson  and 
with  joe  Johnston  and  Mood  are  fanuliar  with  a'l  this.  It 
was  so  common  that  the\'  rare.x'  speak  of  U.  It  is  recalled 
here  as  information   for  a  later  generation. 

After  hreakfast  from  our  haxersacks.  the  hrigade  re- 
crossed  the  ri\er  (here  known  as  South  l\di-loi.  at  Ken- 
ned)'s  Ih'idge,  where  we  halted  and  threw  up  some  li.i^ht 
entrenchments,  coxerin^"  the  hridije  and  the  wide  swamp 
which  hor<lered  the  south  hank,  ddie  enem\-  a])]ieared  in  the 
swamps  hetore  us  on  the  sexenth.  d'he  picket  tiring"  and 
skirmishini.;  which  hegan  here  continued  at  \  arious  cross- 
ings of  South  and  .\orth  h'llisto  :  in  all  cases  the  enemv 
heing  repulsed  in  front.  onl\'  to  find  unoccupied  or  unde- 
fended ]ioints  al)o\e  or  hehjw"  us  at  which  the\-  crossed. 

This  position  was  exacuated  at  midnigh.t  of  the  ninth, 
the  enem\-  lia\  ing  ettecled  a  crossing  at  Ihnaker's  llridge, 
a  few  mi'es  ahox'e.  Joined  Stoxall's  small  hrigade  of  our 
armx'  txxo  mi'es  xx'est  of  (  )rangeliurg.  and  dug  a  light  en- 
treiudinient  across  the  road  to  ])rotect  the  api)roach  to  the 
town.  .\t  sunset,  our  little  hrigade  withdrew,  crossing  to 
Orangehurg,  and  thence  U])  the  east  side  of  the  ri\er,  a 
march  of  twenty-four  mi'.es  today. 

h'ehruarx-  i  i  —  MarclK'd  three  miles  to  Shilling's  1'ridge, 
and  (lug  a  short  line  oi  ritle  pits,  the  enemy  in  our  front. 

56 


Sundaw  i^'cliruarv  \2 — Skirmisliinq'  aloiio;  our  line.  Tn 
the  aftenioim.  tlic  ciK-niy  crossed  llic  ri\cr  alxnc  and  liclow 
us.  when  we  e\  acualed  llie  posilidii,  with  the  loss  of  sexeral 
nieu  wounded  or  captured. 

ilivouaced  nine  p.  m..  on  the  Columl)ia  Road,  sixteen 
miles  from  Orangehurg. 

l'*el)ruary  13 — ]\1  arched  at  daylight  o\er  the  "State 
Road,"'  and  Ilivouaced  at  Congaree  Creek,  The  smoke  of 
niniierous  tires  seen  on  our  left  marked  the  progress  of  the 
enemy,  wIk)  marched  over  roads  parallel  to  our  route. 

The  brigade,  marching  on  the  State  Road,  reached  the 
position  abo\e  Congaree  Creek,  two  miles  from  Columbia, 
on  the  fourteenth  of  February,  and  proceeded  to  fortify 
it.  We  were  glad  to  meet  here  I'ettus's  splendid  Alabama 
brigade  of  our  division,  but  it  was  greatly  reduced  by  its 
losses  in  Hood's  Xashville  campaign.  We  had  hoped  to 
meet  important  reinforcements  here — possibly  a  division 
from  Lee's  army — but  none  appeared. 

On  February  15,  the  enemy  deployed  in  large  force  in 
the  open  bottoms,  in  plain  \iew  of  our  position,  and  we  wit- 
nessed here  the  skirmishing  by  our  calvary  under  General 
Butler  with  the  enemy's  infantry.  The  cahary  moved  as 
orderly  as  on  parade,  squadrons  frequently  charging  the 
foe's  adAance.  and  were  not  forced  to  retire  until  the  enemy 
in  large  force  with  artillery  was  brought,  about  sunset,  to 
bear  upon  them.  (~)ur  small  brigade  witnessed  the  action 
of  our  calvary  in  this  little  encounter  with  unbounded  ad- 
miration, 

A  corps  of  Sherman's  armv  being  in  sight,  and  in  a  fair 
way  to  capture  our  small  force,  the  position  was  evacuated 
early  in  the  night,  Pettus's  lirigade  had  been  hurried  to  the 
bridge  in  the  afternoon  wdien  the  cavalry  w^as  engaged.  On 
reaching  the  bridge,  the  brigade  was  halted,  wdien  General 
Palmer  ordered  the  writer  to  "m.tve  his  regiment  so  as  to 
occupy  the  short  line  of  rifle  pits  covering  the  bridge  heads, 
and  take  command  of  the  ])osition.     Have  the  men   stack 

57 


ihcir  arms  and  remain  in  ca>_\-  reach,  lliat  the  infantr\-  jjick- 
ets  wonlil  he  hi'un^lit  in  ahoul  ten  (i"cl()ck,  when  small  ])icket 
guards  from  the  regiment  nui>t  l)e  })Oste(l  ;U  proper  dis- 
tances on  the  ap])roaches  in  front,  and  the  regiment  resume 
their  arms  at  the  ritlc  pits,  and  tliat  you  will  hold  the  posi- 
tion at  all  hazards  luuil  siuu'ise,  unless  sooner  relie\'ed !" 
'Idle  (  leneral  further  >taletl  that  "si^me  men  were  at  work 
cutting'  down  the  west  span  (jf  the  l)ridge,  l)cfore  tiring,"  and 
that  1  wotild  he  notihed  when  the  work  was  completed,  with 
oi"(lers  to  call  in  our  pickets  and  report  to  hrigade  head- 
(piarters  in  Columhia. 

At  a  little  after  three  a.  m..  on  the  sixteenth,  orders 
were  receixed  to  call  in  ottr  i)ickets  and  march.  On  reach- 
ing the  hridge,  we  found  two  or  three  hridge  men  at  the 
entranc<;.  and  a  lot  of  comhustihles  pi'ed  in  and  near  the 
west  end  of  the  hridge.  awaiting  the  touch  of  a  match. 

'Idle  reg^inient  tiled  1)_\-  us  into  the  hridge,  and,  seeing  that 
otn-  little  rear  guard  had  left  none  hehind,  the  writer 
Ijrought  up  the  rear  of  the  regiment,  and  in  a  short  time  the 
entire  structure  al)t)\e  the  masonry  was  hurning   furiously. 

The  hridge  was  built  of  rich  longleaf  pine.  co\ered  with 
shingles  of  same,  and  hurned  so  rapidl}-  that  the  effort  to 
save  any  part  of  it  was  a  failure. 

.\s  there  seems  to  he  some  confusion  with  writers  as  to 
the  location  of  this  bridge  over  the  Congaree  with  the  two 
bridges  above  the  city  over  the  Broad  and  Saluda,  it  may 
not  be  amiss  to  say  here  that  the  bridge,  which  we  were  the 
last  to  cross,  was  at  the  foot  of  Gervais  Street  in  Columbia. 

(  )n  Fel)ruar\-  i(>,  the  brigade  picketed  the  river  bank, 
with  its  reser\e  in  the  nearest  streets  receiving  the  lire  of 
the  enemv's  sharpshooters,  which  it  was  not  permitted  to 
return.  The  enemy,  nevertheless,  threw  shells  into  the  city, 
several  of  them  striking  the  Capitol,  leaving  permanent  scars 
which  serve  as  reminders  of  Sherman's  visit. 

After  dark,  the  brigade  marched  north  through  the  citv 
to   near   the   conthience    of   the    T.road    and    Saluda    (  which 

5« 


make  the  Congaree),  and  took  a  position  stipporting-  the 
cavah-y  which  were  picketing-  the  upper  crossings.  At  eight 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  seventeenth,  it  was  with- 
drawn, and  marched  alongside  the  Charlotte  Railroad,  the 
enemy  driving  the  cavalry  in  the  rear,  for  a  mile  or  two. 
Sherman  took  possession  of  the  city,  and  its  inhabitants, 
mostly  women  and  children,  learned  to  their  dismay  what 
he  meant  when  he  announced  that  "War  is  Hell!' 

The  horses  of  the  tield  and  staff  officers,  excepting  one 
for  the  general  and  two  for  his  stall,  were  left  with  the 
wagon  train  in  ^Mississippi,  an<l  only  reached  their  owners 
April  I,  at  SmTthfield,  X.  C,  the  officers  of  the  regiments 
meanwhile  having  marched  on  foot  from  liranchville.  S.  C. 
to  Columbia,  and  Charlotte.  X.  C,  and  later  from  Smith- 
field  to  Bentonsville  and  return.  Fording,  or  rather  wading 
the  icv  waters  of  the  Catawba,  at  Lansford,  in  February, 
was  an  incident  to  be  remembered. 

The  writer,  in  these  long,  hard  marches,  wore  long, 
heavy,  ill-fitting  boots,  one  or  two  sizes  too  large  for  him. 
which  of  course  raised  a  fearful  crop  of  blisters. 

General  Palmer,  perhaps  detecting  the  limping  gait,  fre- 
quently dismounted  and  gave  his  subordinate  a  mount  for 
a  mile  or  two — kind  acts  highly  appreciated  at  the  time  and 
gratefully  remembered  since. 

Charlotte  was  reached  February  23;  thence,  by  rail, 
Smithfield,  ]\Iarch  13;  the  forced  march  to  Bentonsville, 
March  18;  the  last  big  battle  of  the  War,  March  19  and  20; 
the  return,  also  on  foot,  to  Smithfield,  a  few  days  later, 
where  he  rejoiced  to  meet  his  horse,  from  which  he  parted 
at  Tupelo,  Miss.,  over  two  months  before.  Then,  mounted, 
marched  with  the  army  via  Raleigh  to  Greensboro  and 
Jamestown — the  surrender,  April  27 ;  then  with  the  regiment 
marched  to  Statesville,  and  disbanded ;  then  on  his  faithful 
horse  to  his  home,  and  loved  ones  at  Lenoir,  and  the  W^ar 
was  closed  for  him,  and  the  struggle  for  bread,  raiment, 
and  upbuilding,  in  the  evil  days  of  reconstruction,  followed. 

59 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 
NORTH  CAROLINIANA 


CC9T\.\4- 


